Understanding complex interactions using social network analysis.

Aims And Objectives: The aim of this paper is to raise the awareness of social network analysis as a method to facilitate research in nursing research.

Background: The application of social network analysis in assessing network properties has allowed greater insight to be gained in many areas including sociology, politics, business organisation and health care. However, the use of social networks in nursing has not received sufficient attention.

Cohesive subgroups and drug user networks in Dhaka City, Bangladesh.

The purpose of this paper was to explore group drug taking behaviour in a slum area of Dhaka, Bangladesh. We set out to examine the relationships between those who met, at least weekly, to take illegal drugs together, and how these relationships might shape their drug behaviour. Sociometric and behavioural data were collected using questionnaires via semi-structured interviews.

Social networks and contraception practice of women in rural Bangladesh.

This paper analyzed the association of social networks with contraceptive use using both structural and attitudinal properties of social networks. Data were collected from seven villages in rural Bangladesh by face-to-face interviews using a structured questionnaire (N = 694). Sociometric data and the centrality positions of women in their social networks were analyzed as proxies for structural properties, and the perception of network members' approval and encouragement towards family planning as attitudinal properties.

Social networks, normative influence and health delivery in rural Bangladesh.

This paper examines the association of social networks with the experience of neonatal death and the type of assistance that a woman obtains at childbirth in rural Bangladesh. Data were collected by interviewing 694 women from seven villages using a structured questionnaire. From the use of both social network analysis and statistical methods, we find that the experience of neonatal death and the type of assistance that a woman gets at childbirth are associated with the characteristics of their social networks along with a set of socioeconomic factors that are usually considered to be important.

Communication and contraception in rural Bangladesh.

This paper examines the association of communication in explaining the decision of women in rural Bangladesh to use or not to use contraception. Using survey data from villages in Bangladesh, we found that communication is an important influence on the ideational change for a smaller family norm and the practice of contraception. This is evident even when socioeconomic and cultural variables are controlled for.