Research Insights

NNSI Research Report: Civil Society 2.0? Winners and Losers on the Chinese Internet

By Sophia Fu While some scholars argue that the Internet is transforming China’s civil society landscape, a recent study by NNSI researchers challenges this claim. Sophia Fu and Michelle Shumate studied the websites of 410 Chinese nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and how Chinese NGOs hyperlinked with each other in 2014. Their findings suggest that Chinese NGOs tend to hyperlink to similar NGOs. For example, government-organized NGOs (GONGOs) preferred to link with

The Impact of Interorganizational Network Evolution on Outcomes for Nongovernmental Organizations (NGOs): A Summary of Current Research

View the Resource By Michelle Shumate, Andrew Pilny, Katherine R. Cooper, Yannick Atouba Around the world, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), grassroots movements, governments, cooperatives, and universities are discovering that the fight against issues such as poverty, hunger, disease, pandemics, disasters, and environmental degradation requires new forms of organizing, self-organizing networks (Contractor, 1994; Fukuyama, 1999). The networked form of governance represents an empowerment approach to issues of poverty and development (Melkote, 2002),

Hyperlinks as Institutionalized Connective Public Goods for Collective Action Online

View the Resource By Sophia Fu, Michelle Shumate Nongovernmental organization (NGO) hyperlink networks are institutionalized connective public goods. They influence which actors and what aspects of social issues are made visible to the public in search engine results. To understand how contextual forces and institutional pressures influence who hyperlinks to whom online, this research examines a hyperlink network of 410 NGOs with various social missions operating across China. It suggests

Interorganizational Communication

View the Resource By Michelle Shumate, Yannick Atouba, Katherine R. Cooper, Andrew Pilny Interorganizational communication describes the structures, forms, and processes created by the exchange of messages and the co-creation of meaning among organizations and their stakeholders. Research in this area has its roots in the study of organizational interlocks and boundary spanners and, more recently, in the field of communication, especially when conceptualized as networks. Several theories have been

A Taxonomy of Communication Networks

View the Resource By Michelle Shumate, Andrew Pilny, Yannick Catouba, Jinseok Kim, Macarena Peña-y-Lillo, Katherine R. Cooper, Ariann Sahagun, Sijia Yang Communication network research is increasingly being used across the communication discipline. However, most social network research is limited in its generalizability because it focuses on either a single network case or ego-centric network data. In order to generate knowledge across network studies, a mechanism is needed to synthesize. This

The Case for a Two-Step Approach to Agricultural Campaign Design

View the Resource By Jennifer Ihm, Macarena Pena-Y-Lillo, Katherine R Cooper, Yannick Atouba, Michelle Shumate, Julia Bello-Bravo, Niango Malick Ba, CléMentine L Dabire-Binso, Barry Robert Pittendrigh Development campaigns designed to scale up effective agricultural solutions often rely on media. Information and communication technologies for development (ICT4D) proponents argue that increased media penetration is necessary for such campaigns to succeed. Interviews of 63 extension agents and 200 farmers in Burkina Faso