Doctoral Dissertatoin Research; Social Networks and Health Status

Purdue University, West Lafayette IN

Investigators

Abstract

SES-1003772 Kenneth Ferraro Markus Schafer Purdue University The research studies social relations among independent living residents in a retirement community to determine the dynamics that foster systems of stratification within an institutional context. The study of social relations and social stratified is central to sociological investigations. It is a well researched finding that hierarchy of one kind or another is manifested in all known social groups, and this stratification has implications for a wide-ranging set of outcomes from the access and diffusion of information to gradients in health and well-being. Housing facilities for older adults is an environment in which health likely becomes a more salient feature in differentiating people. This dissertation uses a social networks approach to test whether health emerges as a differentiating factor for evaluation and hierarchy within an institutional setting, in particular, how is status constructed and what are the contextual effects. Social network analysis involves studying the structure of social relationships, for example who is connected via ties, who reciprocates friendship, and who bridges disconnected clusters. Data come from interviews of all independent living residents in a retirement community (n = ~ 160). The interviews include time estimates of social interaction, perceptions about interactions (obligatory vs. enjoyable), evaluations of liking others, and health information. Broader Impacts Beyond testing whether health influences levels of cohesion, friendship choice and reciprocation, and the evaluation of social ties, this project has potential for directly improving community life for people living in institutions. If health divides people in retirement communities, then steps can be taken to structure an institution so that it maximizes people?s social connectedness (e.g., the distribution of health within a geographical cluster as a consideration). In another setting, other valued traits may similarly emerge as key differentiators, depending upon the context. Therefore, better understanding of how endogenous characteristics influence important social concerns such as alienation, marginalization, or cohesion in group settings will be potentially fruitful and applicable in other real-world contexts.