http://smallworld.columbia.edu/
Stanley Milgram believed that any individuals of a large population are connected via a few intermediate acquaintances. His hypothesis and subsequent study lead to the idea of “six degrees of separation” because on average any two people could be connected with six acquaintances. While this study became well known throughout popular culture, it is not based on very significant empirical findings. So how small is the world?
A group at Columbia University set out to expand on Milgram’s study and to answer this question. Their first goal was to measure the lengths of acquaintance chains. They then wanted to study the effect of race, class, nationality, occupation, and education on people’s connections. Finally, they wanted to identify what types of information and people lead to the greatest connections. The study included more than 60.000 e-mail users, trying to reach one of 18 target persons in 13 countries.
The procedure of the study is as follows. Subjects of the study are told the name of their “target,” or the person with whom they need to be connected. They then send the target’s name (in a message) to some friends and acquaintances that are closer to the target. These people then forward the message to a friend or acquaintance of theirs, continuing in this pattern until the target is ultimately reached. The study asks each participant about their relationship with the person who sent them the message, and the recipient of the message. The study also asks the participants about their demographic information.
The results showed that people are globally connected especially when connections are based on professional acquaintances; however, the results relied heavily on the interest of the participants. There was a significant non-response bias that may have impacted the results of the study. I think that even for the people who were interested in the study, it is hard to know how they are connected to someone else. For example, if I wanted to find out how I am connected to a random stranger who plays guitar in Oregon, I might think my friend from Oregon is the best option; however, I may miss a more obvious connection like because that stranger could be related to one of my good friends.
This is a very interesting area of research and relates to our discussions about social networks. The study examines the strength of connections and how they influence the spreading of information. Interestingly, intermediate to weak ties are the best and most common types of links used. This goes along with Granovetter’s idea of weak ties being influential “bridges” to novel information. In the future, Facebook will be a good way to explore the social network(s) of people throughout the country.
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