Peter Marsden is an American sociologist. He is the Edith and Benjamin Geisinger Professor of Sociology at Harvard University.[1]

Peter Marsden
Alma materDartmouth College, University of Chicago
Known forContributions to Social network analysis, organizational theory, sociological methodology.
Scientific career
FieldsSociology, Social network analysis
InstitutionsHarvard University, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Doctoral advisorEdward Laumann, James Samuel Coleman
Other academic advisorsJames A. Davis

Education and career

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Marsden received his undergraduate degree (in Sociology and History) at Dartmouth College in 1973 and his graduate degrees at University of Chicago (M.A. in 1975, Ph.D. in 1979).[2] He studied under Edward Laumann. He contributed to developing sociological methods for studying social networks, social organizations, and social inequality via survey research.[3][4] This research had a major impact on research on issues such as social inequality, status attainment, the epidemic spread of disease, and social isolation.[5][6][7][8][9][10][11]

Marsden began his scholarly career at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and was then appointed to a position at Harvard University in 1987. There he served as Dean of the Social Sciences, as well as the Chair of the Department of Sociology at Harvard between 1992 and 1998 and in 2002–03. He chaired the Policy and Admissions Committee for the Ph.D. Program in Organizational Behavior between 2000 and 2003, and again between 2005 and 2010. From 2011 until 2015 he served as Dean of Social Science in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences.[12]

His research has focused primarily on the structure of social organization, especially formal organizations and social networks. He wrote one of the most highly cited works in the history of sociology on the topic of egocentric social network analysis.[13] He also contributes to social science methodology and the sociology of medicine.[14][15][16] Marsden is Co-Principal Investigator of the General Social Survey.

Selected scholarly works

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Much of Marsden's work has been cited in prominent reviews of social network analysis.[17][18] Examples include:

  • "Restricted Access in Networks and Models of Power", American Journal of Sociology, 1983.[19]
  • "The Boundary Specification Problem in Network Analysis", Chapter 1 of Applied Network Analysis, 1983.[20][21]
  • "Core Discussion Networks of Americans", American Sociological Review, 1987.[22]
  • "Network Data and Measurement", Annual Review of Sociology, 1990.[23]
  • "Network Studies of Social Influence", Sociological Methods & Research, 1993.[24]
  • "Recent Developments in Network Measurement", Models and Methods in Social Network Analysis, 2005.[25]

References

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  1. ^ "Peter V. Marsden". Harvard University. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
  2. ^ "Peter V. Marsden". scholar.harvard.edu. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
  3. ^ Wasserman, Stanley, and Katherine Faust. 1994. Social Network Analysis: Methods and Applications. Cambridge University Press.
  4. ^ Perry, Brea L., Bernice A. Pescosolido, and Stephen P. Borgatti. 2018. Egocentric Network Analysis: Foundations, Methods, and Models. Cambridge University Press.
  5. ^ Burt, Ronald S. 1995. Structural Holes: The Social Structure of Competition. Harvard University Press.
  6. ^ Lin, Nan. 1999. "Building a Network Theory of Social Capital." Connections 22(1):28-51.
  7. ^ McPherson, Miller, Lynn Smith-Lovin, and James M. Cook. 2001. "Birds of a Feather: Homophily in Social Networks." Annual Review of Sociology 27(1):415-444.
  8. ^ Burt, Ronald S. 2004. "Structural Holes and Good Ideas." American Journal of Sociology 110(2):349-399.
  9. ^ Christakis, Nicholas A., and James H. Fowler. 2009. Connected: The Surprising Power of Our Social Networks and How They Shape Our Lives. Little, Brown, and Company.
  10. ^ Small, Mario Luis. 2017. Someone to Talk To. Oxford University Press.
  11. ^ Bavel, Jay J. Van, Katherine Baicker, Paulo S. Boggio, Valerio Capraro, Aleksandra Cichocka, Mina Cikara, Molly J. Crockett et al. 2020. "Using Social and Behavioural Science to Support COVID-19 Pandemic Response." Nature Human Behaviour 4(5):460-471.
  12. ^ "Biographical Note".
  13. ^ Marsden, Peter V. 1987. "Core Discussion Networks of Americans." American Sociological Review:122-131.
  14. ^ Marsden, Peter V. 1990. "Network Data and Measurement." Annual Review of Sociology 16:435-463.
  15. ^ Marsden, Peter V. 2005. "Recent Developments in Network Measurement." Models and Methods in Social Network Analysis 8:30.
  16. ^ Laumann, Edward O., Peter V. Marsden, and David Prensky. 1989. "The Boundary Specification Problem in Network Analysis." Research Methods in Social Network Analysis 61(8).
  17. ^ Wasserman, Stanley, and Katherine Faust. 1994. Social Network Analysis: Methods and Applications. Cambridge University Press.
  18. ^ Perry, Brea L., Bernice A. Pescosolido, and Stephen P. Borgatti. 2018. Egocentric Network Analysis: Foundations, Methods, and Models. Cambridge University Press.
  19. ^ Marsden, Peter V. (1983). "Restricted Access in Networks and Models of Power". American Journal of Sociology. 88 (4): 686–717. doi:10.1086/227729. ISSN 0002-9602. JSTOR 2779481. S2CID 143879470.
  20. ^ Pescosolido, Bernice; Perry, Brea L.; Smith, Edward B.; Small, Mario L., eds. (2021), "From Edward O. Laumann, Peter V. Marsden, and David Prensky, "The Boundary Specification Problem in Network Analysis"", Personal Networks: Classic Readings and New Directions in Egocentric Analysis, Structural Analysis in the Social Sciences, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 417–430, doi:10.1017/9781108878296.030, ISBN 978-1-108-83997-6, retrieved January 25, 2024
  21. ^ The Boundary Specification Problem in Network Analysis. Applied Network Analysis, Chapter 1. Sage Publications. 1983.
  22. ^ Marsden, Peter V. (1987). "Core Discussion Networks of Americans". American Sociological Review. 52 (1): 122–131. doi:10.2307/2095397. ISSN 0003-1224. JSTOR 2095397. S2CID 143815557.
  23. ^ Marsden, Peter V. (August 1990). "Network Data and Measurement". Annual Review of Sociology. 16 (1): 435–463. doi:10.1146/annurev.so.16.080190.002251. ISSN 0360-0572. S2CID 28039886.
  24. ^ Marsden, Peter V.; Friedkin, Noah E. (August 1993). "Network Studies of Social Influence". Sociological Methods & Research. 22 (1): 127–151. doi:10.1177/0049124193022001006. ISSN 0049-1241. S2CID 143267928.
  25. ^ Marsden, Peter V. (2005), Scott, John; Carrington, Peter J.; Wasserman, Stanley (eds.), "Recent Developments in Network Measurement", Models and Methods in Social Network Analysis, Structural Analysis in the Social Sciences, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 8–30, ISBN 978-0-521-80959-7, retrieved January 25, 2024
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