Customer Reviews

Network Models of the Diffusion of Innovations (Quantitative Methods in Communication Subseries)

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Though published in 1995, this book reads like it was written 20 years prior. The core chapters are each devoted to a different class of network models (relational networks, structural networks, threshold models, critcal mass models, and a chapter for 'others') and the author compares predictions made by each type to classic historical data regarding farmers in Brazil, birth control in Korea, and antibiotics among doctors. However, not a mention is made of the 'Santa Fe' school of innovation diffusion research and references to the wealth of recent research is scant (A survey of 2 randomly selected pages from the References show that, of the 35 works that appear on the pages, only 8 were less than 5 years old while 13 were from more than 20 years prior to the book's publication).

Further, the book doesn't seem to be well-suited to any particular kind of reader: because it lacks end of chapter exercises, it would not make a good textbook; it is extraordinarily light on mathematics (considering the subject matter) to be helpful to the serious scholar; and it doesn't cover the topics discussed nearly as well as, say, Everett Rogers' _Diffusion of Innovations_ or Duncan Watts' _Small Worlds_ to be interesting to the average reader. The body of innovation diffusion research is too rich to waste time reading this book, unless it's just for reference purposes.

This book is an excellent review of the applications of social network analysis to health communication research. Tom Valente is an internationally-recognized scholar in social network analysis and health communication. In this book, he offers a very readable description of how social networks can be used to understand the transmission of new ideas through society. This knowledge is particularly important for the design of media-based education and advertising campaigns, because it explains how information is passed from person to person within a social network. Despite the rigorous mathematics underlying social network analysis, Dr. Valente presents the information in a way that can be understood by most applied social scientists. A must-read for social scientists who are interested in social networks!