Sunbelt XXXI International Network for Social Network ... - INSNA

Neighborhood Cultures? Composition, Constitution And Significance Of Neighborhood NetworksHollstein, Betina; Pfeffer, Jürgen; Behrmann, LauraQualitative and Mixed Method Network studiesMixed Methods, Personal Support Networks, Network CompositionSAT.PM1Besides kinship ties, neighborhood relationships have been a central element of social integration in traditional societies. In individualized modern societies,neighborhood relationships seem to be of importance only for certain social groups, e.g. for members of the working class or the elderly. The question arises:Can we actually speak of different neighborhood cultures? Topics of the paper are differences in current neighborhood relationships and networks: We analyzedifferences in composition and significance (meaning, support) of neighborhood networks between social groups. We present data of a research project onneighborhood networks in urban areas. Analyses are based on 100+ qualitative interviews including an ego networks survey via touch screen computers inthree cities in Germany. Aim of the project is to better understand the structure (composition) and the functionality (social support) of neighborhoodnetworks. Bringing these networks into context with the strong ties of the interviewee the relative importance of the neighborhood network is analyzed.Finally, we look at the duration and the origins of the relations to understand the constitution of in neighborhood networks and their changes over time.