ABSTRACT

This chapter focuses on the problem of nesting of persons in social networks or cliques, and the analyses of such data over time. The study of social networks and cliques is an important topic in the social development literature. This chapter begins with a brief description of the history of this research and its position in the broader context of research on peer relations. Some of the unique measurement and scoring challenges that define social networks research with children or adolescents will then be presented. Next, results will be presented of the analysis of longitudinal patterns of various aspects of social clique membership, using data from a larger longitudinal study on the academic and social development of children and youth. Finally, theoretical and methodological implications of these findings will be discussed.

Levels of Analysis