This session is part of the ESRC Centre for Society and Mental Health's Research Methods Primer and Provocation series.

In this session Dr Molly Copeland and Holly Crudgington will provide an introduction to social network analysis (SNA) with a focus on major theories and conceptual approaches to using ego-centric and sociometric network data for those new to considering networks.

The session will focus on sociological perspectives to studying social networks, with examples focused on adolescent networks and behaviors, with specific applications to the friendship network data within the Resilience, Ethnicity and AdolesCent Mental Health (REACH) study, which sits within the Centre's Young People and Social Change Programme.  

Please note that this session will be recorded. 

Learning objectives: 

By the end of the session, you will be familiar with key terminology in the field, understand the kind of data and research questions that lend themselves to social network analysis, and be able to refer to applied examples of how social network analysis has been used to analyse adolescent friendship networks within the REACH study.

About the Presenters:

Molly Copeland is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Michigan State University. Her research examines associations between social networks and health across the life course. Current projects explore how social network structure and content predict depression and self-harm in adolescence, long-term effects of adolescent networks on adult mental health, and how networks relate to older adults' well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. Her work has recently been published in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior, Adolescent Research Review, and Social Forces.

Holly Crudgington is a PhD student at the ESRC Centre for Society and Mental Health.  Her research is focused on adolescent self-harm and social networks. Holly uses data from the Resilience Ethnicity and Adolescent Mental Health (REACH) Study – an accelerated cohort study of over 4000 adolescents in south London. Part of her PhD explores how the structure of adolescent friendship networks relate to self-harm. Her work has recently been published in Adolescent Research Review, Journal of Adolescence and BMJ Open.

Chaired by: Craig Morgan, Professor of Social Epidemiology and Co-Director of the Centre for Society and Mental Health, King's College London

How to register:

This session will convene online. To join, please register in advance via the Zoom registration link here 

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about how to join the seminar.