Using Social Networking Analysis to Measure Changes in Regional Food Systems Collaboration: A Methodological Framework

• Main Authors: Libby O. Christensen, Rita O'Sullivan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Thomas A. Lyson Center for Civic Agriculture and Food Systems 2016-10-01
• Series: Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development
• Subjects: Collaboration; Evaluation; Local Food Systems; Regional Food Systems; Social Network Analysis
• Online Access: https://www.foodsystemsjournal.org/index.php/fsj/article/view/350

This article presents a methodological approach to studying and evaluating increasingly complex regional food systems. Social network analysis has been used to measure collaborations in health and education and is potentially a tool for regional food systems. The authors demonstrate the methodological advantages of using social network analysis to track changes in collaboration over time, illustrated through a case study of a multitiered, three-year food systems project in North Carolina. There are multiple benefits of using social network analysis; for food systems two of the most useful are its ability to create illuminating visualizations of collaborators, and its ability to use inferential statistics to evaluate significance of changes in food system projects.