SNA Research News

Read the relationships behind the results.

A reviewed collection of journal and conference articles that use social network analysis as a substantive data analysis approach.

All article types Journal article Conference paper

36 articles

Page 1 / 6

Overhead paper-collage illustration of five online discussion panels, each with a tight amber reply core and teal or violet peripheral nodes, with thick amber comparison arrows spanning panels

Journal article2026Open access

Journal article 11

Rich clubs and engagement in online discussions: Implications for participatory learning design

Priya Sharma, Minkyung Lee

Journal of Computing in Higher Education

A study of about 3,000 posts from five asynchronous undergraduate communication courses built separate directed, weighted student interaction networks and calculated normalized rich-club coefficients. Highly active students formed closely connected cores, but coded discourse showed only modest differences in cognitive quality between rich-club and other active participants.

Online discussion networksRich-club coefficientLearning design

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Overhead editorial illustration of two medical problem-based learning tables, with sparse broker-linked arrows on the left and dense triangular peer connections on the right

Journal article2026Open access

Journal article 10

Social network analysis as a technology-enhanced assessment tool for collaborative skills in medical PBL

Ahmad Hathim Ahmad Azman, Nee Tiong, Mohammad Arif Kamarudin, Zamira Hasanah Zamzuri

BMC Medical Education

A cross-sectional study of 166 medical students in 17 complete face-to-face problem-based learning groups used directed, weighted peer networks to compare first- and second-year collaboration and examine alignment with CGPA. Second-year groups were denser and more clustered with shorter paths, while only second-year in-degree showed a statistically significant association with achievement.

Medical educationProblem-based learningPeer nomination networks

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Directed classroom peer network with differently sized student nodes

Journal article2026Open access

Journal article 07

Investigating peer network structure and english learning motivation among Saudi secondary school students using social network analysis

Hafsa Pir Mukhtar, Sohil Alqazlan, Muhammad Ishtiaq, Yossef Mohamed Eid

Scientific Reports

A study of 100 secondary EFL learners found modest gender differences in network structure, but no statistically significant association between five centrality measures and English-learning motivation and almost no motivational homophily.

Peer networksLanguage learningCentrality

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Top-down paper classroom showing sparse and more inclusive directed friendship networks before and after six unlabeled steps

Journal article2026Open access

Journal article 09

Reducing social isolation in schools: a social network analysis of the HOPE bullying prevention program

Sojung Kim, Sungbum Woo, Yul-mai Song, Kyungun Jhung, Jungwon Choi, Young Hee Yang, Young Sook Kwack, Yeni Kim

Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health

A pre/post study of a six-session Korean elementary-school bullying-prevention program used directed friend nominations for 204 pupils in nine classrooms. In-degree increased among pupils with low baseline in-degree, especially girls, while out-degree did not change significantly.

School peer networksBullying preventionSocial inclusion

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Photograph of a large university governance forum around a central roundtable, with raised hands and six community nodes

Journal article2026Open access

Journal article 36

Student self-governance network positions and civic participation outcomes

Jing Liu, Putu Kerti Nitiasih, Made Hery Santosa, Putu Nanci Riastini

Scientific Reports

A study of 237 student-governance participants at an eastern Chinese regional university built a 1,738-edge network with six functional communities. Eigenvector centrality and the community E-I index predicted civic outcomes, while XGBoost classified engagement with 0.781 accuracy and 0.842 AUC.

Student governanceCivic participationNetwork prediction

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Overhead 3D editorial illustration of eight separate translucent phone-shaped group panels around a laptop, each showing a directed student support network with weighted lines, fragmented components, and isolated nodes beside computer science assignment cards

Journal article2025Open access

Journal article 12

Effectiveness of the cooperative base groups technique in facilitating cooperative learning in small WhatsApp groups for first-year computer science students: a multi-level social network analysis

Christina Johanna van Staden, Liezel Nel

Discover Education

A study of 79 first-year computer science students used nine separate WhatsApp cooperative-base-group networks to examine learning support during emergency remote education. Multi-level SNA described whole-group structure, communities, personal development networks, and centrality, while correlations with final marks remained observational and non-causal.

Cooperative learning networksMulti-level SNAWhatsApp groups

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