Effect Of Weak Ties Research Articles

Effect of weak ties on degree and H-index in link prediction of complex network

Link prediction of complex network intends to estimate the probability of existence of links between two nodes. In order to improve link prediction accuracy and fully exploit the potentialities of nodes, many studies focus more on the influence of degree on nodes but less on the hybrid influence of degree and H-index. The nodes with a larger degree have more neighbors, and the nodes with larger H-index have more neighbors of neighbors. Meanwhile, weak ties consisting of neighbors with a small degree have powerful strength of intermediary ability and a high probability of passing similarity. A novel link prediction model is proposed considering the hybrid influence of degree and H-index and weak ties, which is called Hybrid Weak Influence, marked as HWI. After experimenting with nine real datasets, the results show that this method can significantly improve the link prediction accuracy, compared with the empirical methods: Common Neighbors (CN), Resource-Allocation (RA) and Adamic/Adar (AA). Meanwhile, the computation complexity is less than the long path algorithm of LP, SRW, PCEN.

Ties in Overlapping Community Structures: Strong or Weak?

In recent years, the identification and application of strong and weak ties in social networks has drawn increasing attention. The traditional definitions of strong ties (with two endpoints in the same community) and weak ties (with two endpoints in different communities) are being challenged by overlapping community structures. Because of their unique nature, the relationships between overlapping nodes and non-overlapping nodes are difficult to classify as strong or weak. In view of this, it is here proposed that the coefficient indicator for overlapping communities was used to redefine node relationships and enable the quantification of strong and weak ties. Next, changes in the quantities of strong and weak ties were analyzed by varying the threshold values of the overlap coefficient. Finally, the effect of weak ties in information dissemination was assessed in overlapping and non-overlapping situations, respectively. Results demonstrated that the overlap coefficient proposed in this paper could better characterize the strong and weak attributes of edges under overlapping community structures.

Link Prediction in Weighted Networks: A Weighted Mutual Information Model.

The link-prediction problem is an open issue in data mining and knowledge discovery, which attracts researchers from disparate scientific communities. A wealth of methods have been proposed to deal with this problem. Among these approaches, most are applied in unweighted networks, with only a few taking the weights of links into consideration. In this paper, we present a weighted model for undirected and weighted networks based on the mutual information of local network structures, where link weights are applied to further enhance the distinguishable extent of candidate links. Empirical experiments are conducted on four weighted networks, and results show that the proposed method can provide more accurate predictions than not only traditional unweighted indices but also typical weighted indices. Furthermore, some in-depth discussions on the effects of weak ties in link prediction as well as the potential to predict link weights are also given. This work may shed light on the design of algorithms for link prediction in weighted networks.

Situational influences on the evaluation of other-customer failure

This article examines how customers evaluate their dissatisfaction with the service provider at times of other customer misbehavior when they are accompanied by a number of social companions with specific consumption goals in a restaurant context. The empirical data demonstrate that participants note higher levels of dissatisfaction when they are in the company of social companions than when they are alone. Moreover, the presence of strong ties would have an inhibitory effect on the expression of dissatisfaction relative to the presence of weak ties, whereas the effects of weak ties would depend on the group size and consumption goals. With hedonic consumption goals, the weak tie customer expresses higher dissatisfaction when the group size is small rather than when it is large. In contrast, with utilitarian consumption goals, the weak tie customers’ dissatisfaction is higher when the group size is larger than when it is small. Theoretical and managerial implications for these findings are also discussed.

Effects of weak ties on epidemic predictability on community networks.

Weak ties play a significant role in the structures and the dynamics of community networks. Based on the contact process, we study numerically how weak ties influence the predictability of epidemic dynamics. We first investigate the effects of the degree of bridge nodes on the variabilities of both the arrival time and the prevalence of disease, and find out that the bridge node with a small degree can enhance the predictability of epidemic spreading. Once weak ties are settled, the variability of the prevalence will display a complete opposite trend to that of the arrival time, as the distance from the initial seed to the bridge node or the degree of the initial seed increases. More specifically, the further distance and the larger degree of the initial seed can induce the better predictability of the arrival time and the worse predictability of the prevalence. Moreover, we discuss the effects of the number of weak ties on the epidemic variability. As the community strength becomes very strong, which is caused by the decrease of the number of weak ties, the epidemic variability will change dramatically. Compared with the case of the hub seed and the random seed, the bridge seed can result in the worst predictability of the arrival time and the best predictability of the prevalence.

Does Social Embeddedness Influence Union Formation Choices among the Turkish and Moroccan Second Generation in The Netherlands?

This paper examines the influence of contact outside one’s own ethnic group on four different aspects of union formation among the Turkish and Moroccan second generation in the Netherlands. Non-co-ethnic networks offer potentially different views on union formation compared to the families of origin and may thus be relevant for the choices young adults make in this domain. We distinguish between strong ties (close non-co-ethnic friends) and weak ties (ethnic composition of secondary school) and study the effects of these types of ties on four aspects of union formation, namely the timing of starting a first union, the timing of first marriage, the type of union (marriage versus cohabitation) and the ethnic origin of the partner. Using data from “The Integration of the European Second Generation” (TIES) survey for the Netherlands collected in 2007, we find that a higher level of embeddedness into non-co-ethnic networks, in particular having many close friends, influences each of the four union formation choices studied. Weak ties affect the timing of a first union and a first marriage. Effects of weak ties were not found for other aspects of union formation. These results points to the importance of social actors outside the family. Our findings suggest that in particular strong ties with non-co-ethnics are relevant for union formation choices.

The Social logic of politics: personal networks as contexts for political behavior

Preface Introduction: Theoretical and Methodological Context 1. Alan S. Zuckerman, Returning to the Social Logic of Politics. 2. Robert Huckfeldt, Paul Johnson, and John Sprague, Individuals, Dyads and Networks: Autoregressive Patterns of Political Influence. I - Families as Sources of Strong Political Ties 3. Laura Stoker and M. Kent Jennings, Political Similarity and Influence between Husbands and Wives. 4. Alan S. Zuckerman, Jennifer Fitzgerald, and Josip Dasovic, Do Couples Support the same Political Parties? Sometimes. Evidence from British and German Panel Surveys. 5. Sidney Verba, Kay Schlozman, and Nancy Burns, Family Ties: Understanding the Intergenerational Transmission of Political Participation. II Friends, Workmates, Neighbors, and Political Contexts: the effects of weak ties on electoral choices and political participation 6. Ulrich Kohler, Changing Class Locations and Partisanship in Germany. 7. Jeffrey Levine, Choosing Alone? The Social Network Basis of Modern Political Choice.8. Laurence Kotler-Berkowitz, Friends and Politics: Linking Friendship Diversity to Political Participation. 9. Ann Chih Lin, Networks, Gender and the Use of State Authority: Evidence from a Study of Arab Immigrants in Detroit. 10. Ron Johnston and Charles Pattie, Putting Voters in their Places: Local Context and Voting in England and Wales, 1997. 11. James Gimpel, and J. Celeste Lay, Party Identification, Local Partisan Contexts and the Acquisition of Participatory Attitudes. 12. Christopher Anderson and Aida Paskeviciute, Macro-Politics and Micro-Behavior: Mainstream Politics and the Frequency of Political Discussion in Contemporary Democracies. III. The Social Logic of Politics: Looking Ahead 13. Paul Johnson and Robert Huckfeldt, Agent-Based Explanations for the Survival of Disagreement in Social Networks. 14. James Fowler, Turnout in a Small World.