Abstract

Social Network Analysis with GIS for Election Monitoring Research
Track: Census and Statistical
Authors: Greg Couch

The Social Network Analysis for Democratization and Election Monitoring Research Application assists the visualization of the interaction and global circulation of democracy promotion and election experts. Election observation and consultation has become an industry with a labor force that can be analyzed spatially, temporally, and in social network models. The application integrates social network analysis software into a GIS using data from anthropological study of election monitors. The deployment of the server-based application includes basic viewing and querying through a web map viewer and multiple levels of network connectivity. By combining the temporal, geographic, and social bonds of observers and/or teams, the program reveals the entities of higher influence within the election observation field. Focusing on these entities allows anthropologists and others to focus on specific nodes of influence in order to study efficiently the spread of democratization and election monitoring experts.

Greg Couch
University of Redlands
1200 East Colton Avenue
PO Box 3080
Redlands, California 92373
United States
Phone: 909-748-8128
E-mail: gregory_couch@spatial.redlands.edu