Discourse Network Analyzer 3.1.0 released: github.com/leifeld-lab/.... Annotate actor-concept statements in documents and export networks. Updated document and statement management from the associated R package rDNA, polarisation, phase detection, backbone identification, IRT scaling, and bug fixes.
Philip Leifeld
Full paper (open access) 👉 doi.org/10.1016/j.so...
Happy to discuss!
Out today at the Annual Review of Political Science, my article with @alicexu.bsky.social and Audrey Sacks "The Politics of Climate Change in the Developing World."
www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...
This comes from a project with special place for me personally. During my first year of PhD, I got involved in a sport-for-development program organized by Aquila Basket Trento for recently arrived asylum seekers. I had the chance to meet wonderful people and collect network data for the first time.
Through TERGMs we see that the clearest skill effect is a sender (confidence) effect: more skilled players initiated more ties overall. A receiver (prestige) effect also appears for friendship. In short, who you are and how well you play shape what you get out of the intervention.
We tracked how participants' peer networks evolved between the start (T1) and end (T2) of the program, focusing on 3 types of relationships.
Alejandro Ciordia
Alejandro Ciordia
Alejandro Ciordia
Guy Grossman
Alejandro Ciordia
First finding: the program did expand participants' networks, but mainly at the level of weak ties. Acquaintanceship density grew from 0.51 to 0.72, and phone contacts from 0.16 to 0.31, both statistically significant. Close friendships, by contrast, barely moved.
Alejandro Ciordia
📢 New article out in Social Networks (co-authored w/ @corneliusholler.de, @snannabell.bsky.social, @mirandalubbers.bsky.social, and Cristiano Vezzoni): "Unequal relational gains in a sport intervention for asylum seekers"
🔗 doi.org/10.1016/j.socnet.2026.05.003
A 🧵 with the main takeaways 👇
Alejandro Ciordia
Sport-for-development (SFD) programs are widely used to foster social integration among migrants and asylum seekers, with the intuition that shared physical activity naturally builds social bonds. But does it, and does it do so equally for everyone?
