Social network analysis and the hunt for homophily: diversity and equality within festival communities

Abstract

ABSTRACTDiversity and equality at a Scottish volunteer-run arts festival are explored in this paper, through a survey-based social network analysis and follow-up interviews. Together they provide an overview of the festival's network structure, and rich evidence of the experiences of individuals in different parts of the network. UCINET software is used to analyse relationships between volunteers, and attribute data based on their demographics, engagement with the festival and responses to Likert-type statements on the study's main themes. Interviewees were sampled as a function of their network centrality, aggregated across a range of measures. A core–periphery network structure was revealed, focused on seven central individuals with established commitments to the organisation. This configuration outweighed alternative arrangements, including the functional departments that interviewees cited as being important to their relationships to the festival. Homophily, the propensity to associate with others with whom we are similar, is explored against ‘status’ definitions (such as age and gender) and ‘value’ (including beliefs and attitudes). Peripheral interviewees were shown to have less detailed knowledge of the festival's relationships with its neighbourhood, but a clearer sense of how the festival had benefited them personally. Members of the core group were representative of the broader network on a number of attributes apart from the country of birth, with evidence that better communication from core to periphery could benefit the overall organisation in its mission to represent a diverse mix of influences.