ABSTRACT
THE IDEA OF communication networks has been used in several disciplines in a variety of ways ranging from the purely metaphorical “social web” to a precise analytical concept. The concept of ethnic communication networks has recently received increasing attention in academic areas such as intercultural communication and sociology, as well as practically oriented fields such as social work, public health, community-based health care systems, and certain groups of mental health practitioners. These professions recognize that the clients they are treating are embedded in ethnic social networks. The literature reveals at least two important deficiencies in the existing studies of ethnic communication networks. First, most studies deal with one ethnic group at a time, making comparisons across ethnic groups rare. Second, most studies still use the term “network” as a metaphor rather than as a concept for analysis.
