Relationships between personal social networks and spatial mobility with mobile phone data
Date
2021-12-10
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Abstract
Elamine võrgustunud ühiskonnas, kus lisaks inimese liikumisele on kesksel kohal ka info- ja kommunikatsioonitehnoloogia (IKT) vahendatud suhtlus, eeldab ühiskondlike protsesside mõistmiseks üha enam võrgustike kui teooria ja meetodi kaasamist. Töö eesmärk on saada uusi teadmisi isikliku sotsiaalse võrgustiku ja ruumilise mobiilsuse seostest. Töö aluseks on kahte tüüpi mobiiltelefonide andmed: mobiilsideoperaatorite ja nutitelefoni rakenduse abil kogutud andmed. Mobiiltelefoni kasutajate kõnetoimingute metainfo (kõnetoiminguid algatanud ja vastu võtnud kasutajate anonümiseeritud koodid, kõnetoimingute teostamise aeg) ja asukohtade teave võimaldab neid kasutada inimeste võrgustike ja ruumilise mobiilsuse seoste analüüsimiseks. Doktoritöö uuringud keskenduvad seostele Eestis ja andmed on kogutud erinevatel ajavahemikel aastatel 2013–2017. Töö üldine tulemus näitab, et ruumiliselt ulatuslikumate isikliku võrgustikuga inimesed liiguvad laiaulatuslikumalt. Tüpoloogilise lähenemisega eristub võrgustike paiknemise ja ruumilise mobiilsuse alusel kolm tüüpi: ruumiliselt hajutatud võrgustikud ja suur mobiilsus; ruumiliselt hajutatud võrgustikud ja vähene mobiilsus; ning ruumiliselt kontsentreeritud võrgustikud ja vähene mobiilsus. Sellest lähtuvalt ei ole kõik hajusalt paiknevate võrgustikega inimesed väga liikuvad. Neid seoseid mõjutavad enim inimese sugu ja etnilisus, IKT kasutus, perekonnaliikmete osakaal võrgustikus, võrgustiku etnilis-keelelisus ja elukoha piirkonna rahvastikutihedus. Tulemused aitavad paremini mõtestada ühiskonna ebavõrdsusi, näiteks etnilist segregatsiooni või ligipääsetavust.
We live in a networked society where, in addition to the physical mobility, communication which is mediated by information and communications technology (ICT) is also central. It increasingly requires an inclusion of networks as a theory and method to understand social processes. The aim of the thesis is to gain new depths of knowledge about relationships between an individual’s personal social network and spatial mobility. The work is based on two types of mobile phone data: collected by mobile network operators and smartphone application. Information about the call activities metainformation (anonymised codes of users who initiated and received the call activities, time of the activities) and locations of mobile phone users allows them to be used to analyse the links between personal social networks and spatial mobility. The research of the doctoral thesis focused on relationships in Estonia and covers different periods between 2013 and 2017. The general result of the thesis shows that people with spatially more extensive personal networks move around more. Through a typological approach, three types based on the spatial distribution of networks and spatial mobility are distinguished: dispersed networks and high mobility; dispersed networks and low mobility; and concentrated networks and low mobility. On this basis, not all people with spatially dispersed networks are highly mobile. The relationships were mostly explained by gender and ethnicity of an individual, use of ICT, share of family members in the networks, ethno-linguistic composition of networks, and population density of residential area. The results help to better understand inequalities in society, such as ethnic segregation or accessibility.
We live in a networked society where, in addition to the physical mobility, communication which is mediated by information and communications technology (ICT) is also central. It increasingly requires an inclusion of networks as a theory and method to understand social processes. The aim of the thesis is to gain new depths of knowledge about relationships between an individual’s personal social network and spatial mobility. The work is based on two types of mobile phone data: collected by mobile network operators and smartphone application. Information about the call activities metainformation (anonymised codes of users who initiated and received the call activities, time of the activities) and locations of mobile phone users allows them to be used to analyse the links between personal social networks and spatial mobility. The research of the doctoral thesis focused on relationships in Estonia and covers different periods between 2013 and 2017. The general result of the thesis shows that people with spatially more extensive personal networks move around more. Through a typological approach, three types based on the spatial distribution of networks and spatial mobility are distinguished: dispersed networks and high mobility; dispersed networks and low mobility; and concentrated networks and low mobility. On this basis, not all people with spatially dispersed networks are highly mobile. The relationships were mostly explained by gender and ethnicity of an individual, use of ICT, share of family members in the networks, ethno-linguistic composition of networks, and population density of residential area. The results help to better understand inequalities in society, such as ethnic segregation or accessibility.
Description
Väitekirja elektrooniline versioon ei sisalda publikatsioone
Keywords
social networks, spatial mobility, mobile positioning, social positioning method