A Study on the Types of Social Networks of Housewives in Urban Nuclear Families

The purpose of this study was to identify the types of social networks of urban housewives according to different network composition patterns and to analyze the structural and functional characteristics of identified types. The data used in this study were collected from 589 full-time housewives residing in Taejeon city. The major findings are as follows: 1) The social networks of housewives in urban nuclear families were classified into eight types: the kin network, the non-kin network, the kin-centered network, the friend-centered network, the neighbor-centered network, the associate-centered network, the parallel network, and the decentralized network. 2) The structual characteristics (size, density, homogeneity, duration, proximity, frequency, closeness, direction) varied according to the type. The kin network type and the non-kin network type showed extreme degrees in network characteristics. The parallel network type and the decentralized network type showed an average level of network characteristics. The kin-, friend-, neighbor-, and the associate-centered types showed network characteristics of an intermediate level between the single-category types and the decentralized type. 3) The average levels of function of social network types were different in only two(service support, interference) of the six function areas(emotional support, service support, material support, information support, social companionship support, interference). The average level of service support by the non-kin network type was higher than other types. The average level of interference by the kin-centered network type was higher than other types, and that of the neighbor-centered network type was lower than other types. On the other hand, the total amount of function performance of social network types was different in all function areas. The total amount of social support given by the decentralized network type was greater than the other types. The total amount of interference given by the non-kin network type was smaller than the other types.

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