Analyzing Informal Social Protection Across Borders: Synthesizing Social Network Analysis with Qualitative Interviews

Bilecen B. Analyzing Informal Social Protection Across Borders: Synthesizing Social Network Analysis with Qualitative Interviews. SFB 882 Working Paper Series. Vol 19. Bielefeld: DFG Research Center (SFB) 882 From Heterogeneities to Inequalities; 2013.This paper discusses the importance of social network analysis (SNA) in investigating informal social protection across borders. Social network analysis is used to identify relationships among actors such as individuals, organizations, departments within organizations, and countries. One of the major strengths of SNA in the study of social protection is that it allows for the systematic analysis of relations at multiple levels and for easy visualization. When combined with qualitative interviews, SNA has the potential to provide a complete picture of interpersonal relations. The article illustrates how the combined use of methods produces distinctive data on protection strategies and their meanings. It considers the main features of network analysis in the investigation of social protection, while also giving special attention to cross-border social structures. Because of its relationship-based nature, social protection is chosen as a "strategic research site" (Merton 1963) for this methodological approach