Dr Nikita Basov (Department of Social Statistics) has been awarded a British Academy Small Grant. The grant will fund the project titled "Statistical Modelling of Meaning Creation in Interaction: A Test of Core Social Theories.".
In this project, Dr. Basov will explore the capabilities of recently advanced network modelling methods to test two core social theories: symbolic interactionism and social constructivism. By doing so, he aims to provide the first comprehensive quantitative test of these theories.
These new methods allow the disentangling of 3-layer socio-cultural network structures that connect individuals, words, and material objects within small groups of collocated individuals. This, in turn, facilitates the cross-validation of the fundamental assumptions that both theories make about how cultural meanings are formed across different types of interactions, structural levels, and time spans.
The project will utilize a globally unique multi-dimensional dataset capturing socio-cultural dynamics in five groups of visual artists over two years.
The development of statistical models for analysing how cultural meaning is created in society will constitute a significant contribution to social science. The results of testing core social theories have the potential to catalyse fundamental changes in social sciences and beyond.
Dr Nikita Basov awarded British Academy Research Grant
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