Book Review: Dominguez, Silvia & Hollstein, Betina (Eds.): Mixed Methods Social Networks Research. Design and Applications

Abstract

Mixed methods social networks offers a comprehensive set of tools for understanding and modeling the relational condition of the human life. This book aims to offer a deep discussion and application examples to virtuously combine quantitative and qualitative network analysis methods into mixed designs, thus effectively adding to the literature in this regard. In trying to do better quality of life research, until recently we have lacked a more comprehensive tool-box for understanding and modeling the relational condition of the human life. If meaning in life has to do with relationality, there had not been enough discussion or methodological support for its incorporation to inquiry practices employed to understand the life trajectories and its experienced results. The book reviewed here represents an important step to fill this gap, in focusing some of those quantitative and qualitative features that scientific research has found related to QoL as an inherently social process, in the sense of being conditioned by the set of linkages that a person or group has (which is the definition of social network). The book is divided into three sections: “General Topics” which refers to the conceptual and metatheoretical discussion, “Mixed Methods Applications” and “New Approaches used in Mixed Methods Designs” which includes “Conclusions and Outlook” that are certainly useful for understanding the authors’ approach to Social Network Analysis (SNA) which seems to be the touchstone of social research in the first half of the century. The SNA presented in the book combines quantitative and qualitative studies which make it worth considering even if not intended to be applied in quality of life research. Some of the applications shown in section two are the decision of having a baby when patterns of parentality in surrounding couples are changing (chapter 5, Bernardi, Keim Applied Research Quality Life (2014) 9:769–770 DOI 10.1007/s11482-014-9339-x