Abstract
Although structuration theory (ST) has endured a considerable influence in communication research across various domains, there remains a paucity of quantitative empirical research using ST as a viable framework. The purpose of this article is to develop an adapted structurational framework to explain the emergence of communication networks. The adapted framework distinguishes between relational states/events and internal/external structural rules. For analysis, we introduce multipanel relational event modeling, a technique using processual inference that can empirically demonstrate the recursive nature of system and structure. As an introductory example of both the framework and method, we examined communication, using cell-phone data, of students living in the same dormitory from September 2008 through February 2009. Our results demonstrated how different structures (i.e., perceived social relations and internal/external structural rules) are reproduced and transformed over time. Our research has implications for communication research dealing with recursivity, event-driven network analysis, the changing nature of the phone call, and the promise of computational communication science.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 72-94 |
Number of pages | 23 |
Journal | Communication Studies |
Volume | 68 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jan 1 2017 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2016 Central States Communication Association.
Keywords
- Big Data
- Networks
- Relational Event Modeling
- Structuration
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Communication