How Far and with Whom Do People Socialize? Empirical Evidence About Distance Between Social Network Members

被引:90
作者
Carrasco, Juan Antonio [1 ]
Miller, Eric J. [2 ]
Wellman, Barry [3 ]
机构
[1] Univ Concepcion, Dept Civil Engn, Concepcion, Chile
[2] Univ Toronto, Dept Civil Engn, Toronto, ON M5S 1A4, Canada
[3] Univ Toronto, Ctr Urban & Community Studies, Netlab, Toronto, ON M5S 2G8, Canada
基金
加拿大自然科学与工程研究理事会;
关键词
D O I
10.3141/2076-13
中图分类号
TU [建筑科学];
学科分类号
0813 ;
摘要
Hagerstrand's seminal argument that regional science is about people and not just locations is still a compelling and challenging idea when the spatial distribution of activities is studied. In the context of social activity-travel behavior (hosting and visiting), this issue is particularly fundamental as individuals' main motivation in making social trips is mostly with whom they interact rather than where they go. A useful approach to incorporate the travelers' social context is to study explicitly the spatial distribution of their social networks, focusing on social locations as emerging from their contacts, rather than analyzing social activity locations in isolation. In this context, this paper studies the spatial distribution of social activities, focusing on the home distances between specific individuals (egos) and the network members (alters) with whom they socialize-serving as a proxy to study social activity-travel location. Using data from a recent study of personal networks and social interaction, and multilevel models that account for the hierarchical structure of these networks, this paper provides empirical evidence on how the characteristics of individuals and their social context relate to the distance separating them. The results strongly suggest that, although the spatial distribution of social interaction has idiosyncratic characteristics, there are several systematic effects associated with the characteristics of egos, alters, and their personal networks that affect the spatial distribution of relationships, and they can contribute to an understanding of where people perform social activities with others.
引用
收藏
页码:114 / 122
页数:9
相关论文
共 38 条
[1]   A multi-level cross-classified model for discrete response variables [J].
Bhat, CR .
TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH PART B-METHODOLOGICAL, 2000, 34 (07) :567-582
[2]  
CARRASCO JA, 2008, ENV PLANN B IN PRESS, V35
[3]  
CARRASCO JA, 2007, 86 ANN M TRANSP RES
[4]  
CARRASCO JA, 2006, P 11 INT C TRAV BEH
[5]   Exploring the propensity to perform social activities: a social network approach [J].
Carrasco, Juan Antonio ;
Miller, Eric J. .
TRANSPORTATION, 2006, 33 (05) :463-480
[6]  
Faust K, 1999, SOC NETWORKS, V21, P311
[7]  
Fischer CS., 1982, To Dwell among Friends: Personal networks in town and city
[8]   SPATIAL ASPECTS OF URBAN SOCIAL TRAVEL [J].
FORREST, J .
URBAN STUDIES, 1974, 11 (03) :301-313
[9]   CENTRALITY IN SOCIAL NETWORKS CONCEPTUAL CLARIFICATION [J].
FREEMAN, LC .
SOCIAL NETWORKS, 1979, 1 (03) :215-239
[10]  
Goldstein H., 2011, MULTILEVEL STAT MODE