Commentary: How to do personal network surveys: from name generators to statistical modeling

Abstract

The book “Conducting Personal Network Research” is a conceptual and methodological introduction to the structural study of personal networks. It is part of a series of recent monographs that have begun to systematize the knowledge generated in this area in recent decades (Crossley et al., 2015; McCarty et al., 2019; Perry et al., 2018). In this case, the authors have dedicated a large part of their career to the empirical investigation of the interpersonal relationships, interaction contexts, and social integration processes of immigrants, along with other groups in vulnerable situations. With this publication, all this experience is now reflected in a clear and comprehensive introductory text. This book explains how to integrate relational data collection and analysis with survey research. It systematically presents the strategies to estimate the size of personal networks. Finally, it describes how to fit statistical analysis to relational data, including regression models, multi-level models, and longitudinal models.