Premium
Social network analysis in medical education
Author(s) -
Isba Rachel,
Woolf Katherine,
Hanneman Robert
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
medical education
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.776
H-Index - 138
eISSN - 1365-2923
pISSN - 0308-0110
DOI - 10.1111/medu.13152
Subject(s) - social network analysis , social network (sociolinguistics) , friendship , cohesion (chemistry) , social position , psychology , affect (linguistics) , social relation , social group , social support , social psychology , sociology , social science , social capital , computer science , chemistry , organic chemistry , communication , world wide web , social media
Content Humans are fundamentally social beings. The social systems within which we live our lives (families, schools, workplaces, professions, friendship groups) have a significant influence on our health, success and well‐being. These groups can be characterised as networks and analysed using social network analysis. Social Network Analysis Social network analysis is a mainly quantitative method for analysing how relationships between individuals form and affect those individuals, but also how individual relationships build up into wider social structures that influence outcomes at a group level. Recent increases in computational power have increased the accessibility of social network analysis methods for application to medical education research. Application to Medical Education Social network analysis has been used to explore team‐working, social influences on attitudes and behaviours, the influence of social position on individual success, and the relationship between social cohesion and power. This makes social network analysis theories and methods relevant to understanding the social processes underlying academic performance, workplace learning and policy‐making and implementation in medical education contexts. Conclusions Social network analysis is underused in medical education, yet it is a method that could yield significant insights that would improve experiences and outcomes for medical trainees and educators, and ultimately for patients.