ﻻ يوجد ملخص باللغة العربية
We consider processes on social networks that can potentially involve three factors: homophily, or the formation of social ties due to matching individual traits; social contagion, also known as social influence; and the causal effect of an individuals covariates on their behavior or other measurable responses. We show that, generically, all of these are confounded with each other. Distinguishing them from one another requires strong assumptions on the parametrization of the social process or on the adequacy of the covariates used (or both). In particular we demonstrate, with simple examples, that asymmetries in regression coefficients cannot identify causal effects, and that very simple models of imitation (a form of social contagion) can produce substantial correlations between an individuals enduring traits and their choices, even when there is no intrinsic affinity between them. We also suggest some possible constructive responses to these results.
In an observational study, obtaining unbiased estimates of an exposure effect requires adjusting for all potential confounders. When this condition is met, leveraging additional covariates related to the outcome may produce less variable estimates of
Peoples perceptions about the size of minority groups in social networks can be biased, often showing systematic over- or underestimation. These social perception biases are often attributed to biased cognitive or motivational processes. Here we show
It is generally accepted that neighboring nodes in financial networks are negatively assorted with respect to the correlation between their degrees. This feature would play an important damping role in the market during downturns (periods of distress
In recent years, social media has become a ubiquitous and integral part of social networking. One of the major attentions made by social researchers is the tendency of like-minded people to interact with one another in social groups, a concept which
In this Chapter, we discuss the effects of higher-order structures on SIS-like processes of social contagion. After a brief motivational introduction where we illustrate the standard SIS process on networks and the difference between simple and compl