The Study of Extended Personal Networks with the Analysis of New Year Cards

2000 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary

• Project/Area Number: 11410052
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B).
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: 社会学(含社会福祉関係)
• Research Institution: Tokyo Metropolitan University
• Principal Investigator: MORIOKA Kiyoshi Tokyo Metropolitan University, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Professor, 人文学部, 教授 (50125358)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): YASUKOUCHI Keiko Kyushu Institute of Technology, Faculty of Computer Science and Systems Engineering, Associate Professor, 情報工学部, 助教授 (10195696) ; EGAMI Wataru Seikei University, Faculty of Humanities, Associate Professor, 文学部, 助教授 (50213533) ; KANEKO Isamu Hokkaido University, Faculty of Letters, Professor, 文学部, 教授 (50113212) ; ASAKAWA Tatsuto Tokai University, School of Health Sciences, Associate Professor, 健康科学部, 講師 (40270665) ; KUBOTA Shigeru Tokushima University, Faculty of Integrated Arts and Sciences, Lecturer, 総合科学部, 講師 (20294663)
• Project Period (FY): 1999 – 2000
• Keywords: Personal Networks / Extended Personal Networks / Life course / Status Attainment / Resource Mobilization

Research Abstract

This project was carried out for the follewing two purposes. One is to grasp individuals' extended personal networks (including those of strong ties as well as weak ties) by conducting case studies with the use of New Year's cards as a data-base. The other is to understand the inner structure of individuals' networks focusing on those of their intimate relationships by conducting a mail survey.
Case studies were carried out in three cities for different purposes. In Mitaka-city, case studies of those who engage in the administration of a community center were conducted. The purpose of this study was to investigate characteristics of the residents' participation in their local community and its interrelationships with their extended personal networks. In Fukuoka-city, case studies of elderly residents were carried out in Chuo-ku and Nishi-ku in order to capture transforming processes of their extended personal networks through life course. In Tokushima-city, case studies of the leaders w ho directed a local protest movement were carried out for the purpose of investigating the processes in which networks are mobilized for collecting signatures for a petition. From the results of the case studies described above, we obtained many interesting findings.
Furthermore, from the results of the pretest conducted in 1999, we found that there are not necessary differences between face-to-face interviews and mail surveys in the accuracy ef respondents' answers to the questions that ask about interrelationships among the five persons mentioned as their close friends. Thus, in 2000, we randomly sampled eight regions (shi and ku) of Tokyo Prefecture and conducted a mail survey of a total sample of 2,000. The eight regions consist of Bunkyo-ku, Shinagawa-ku, Ohta-ku, Setagaya-ku, Hachiohji-shi, Oume-shi. Higashimurayama-shi, and Tama-shi. 2000 questionnaires were distributed according to the proportion of the population in the eight regions, and 656 valid samples were collected (the response rate was 33.2%). After the data-cleaning and analysis, we made reports on themes such as the examination of variables determining the network structure, and the relations of status attainment with the network structure, and so on. Part I of the report discusses the results of these analyses, and Part II discusses the results of the analyses from the case studies.