How do we map peer-to-peer social relations?

When we tell our stories to others, we identify people in those stories to explain to the listener about our social world.

It is very common for us as people to talk to family or friends to tell them about our social interaction with specific other people that we name so that they understand the context of the story, the background, and how the whole story fits together.

In order to conduct a Social Network map of peer-to-peer relations and understand the context of these peer interactions, we likewise need to know who connects to whom. This means we need to know who people are, so that we know that Lucy chooses Mila and Georgie as her friends, and then who Mila choose, and Georgie chooses, and so on. To construct a Social Network map it is essential to know ‘who the characters are’ and ‘how those characters are connected’.  

To create such network maps we simply cannot have anonymous surveys. This is why we collect people's names and put them in a roster so that people can choose from a list who their friends are. This sort of thing happens in primary school where teachers will ask students ‘Name three other students that you would like to be in the same class as next year’. Without specific names, such a task simply would not work. The same applies to SNA.

As a parent, you entrust your school with the dual mission of developing your child's learning and their wellbeing. The collection of social network data is another tool that schools use to achieve these two aims. 

Of course we treat this data very seriously, and have a Privacy Policy which adheres to the Australian Privacy Principles. SNA Toolbox has Terms of Service regarding how and what we use any data you provide. SNA Toolbox also has a Child Safety Policy. Further, we have significant data security measures in place with security testing from the Swinburne University of Technology Cybersecurity Lab.

To understand the importance of an SNA approach in schools, see our resource entitled: 
“Peer influence: Student Behaviour is Shaped by the Desire to Feel Included”.