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Reflections on “The Focused Organization of Social Ties” and its Implications for Bonding and Bridging

from III - Later Foundations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 October 2021

By
Scott L. Feld ,
Devin T. Knighton  and
Alec McGail
Edited by
Mario L. Small ,
Brea L. Perry ,
Bernice Pescosolido  and
Edward B. Smith
Mario L. Small
Affiliation:
Harvard University, Massachusetts
Brea L. Perry
Affiliation:
Indiana University, Bloomington
Bernice Pescosolido
Affiliation:
Indiana University, Bloomington
Edward B. Smith
Affiliation:
Northwestern University, Illinois
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Summary

We appreciate this opportunity to reiterate and more fully explicate the “focus theory” as first presented in “The Focused Organization of Social Ties” (Feld 1981) and extended in “Social Structural Determinants of Similarities among Associates” (Feld 1982) and in “The Structured Use of Personal Associates” (Feld 1984). We have been gratified to see that so many social network analysts have used the focus theory in their own work. Nevertheless, we believe that we can now better elucidate some of the fundamental assumptions, processes, and implications in a way that we hope will make the theory more useful to more researchers in more different modes going forward.

Type
Chapter
Information
Personal Networks
Classic Readings and New Directions in Egocentric Analysis
 , pp. 360 - 370
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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