Thursday, September 18, 2014

SNA All-Star: Ronald S. Burt


Ronald S Burt is currently a professor of Sociology and Strategy at The University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Burt's background was originally in physiological and social psychology, with which he earned a B.A in Social and Behavioral Science from Johns Hopkins University. For his graduate study, he moved on to the field of Sociology, in which he earned an M.A. from SUNY Albany and a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. 


Upon completing his graduate education, he turned to research on social networks and, in particular, the competitive advantage a network can provide to both individuals and organizations. In his research, Burt primarily focuses on social capital, or the expected benefit that can be derived from the relationships an actor has, and structural holes, which refer to situations in which two or more clusters possess non-redundant information. His work began in force in the early 1980s, and has continued through the present day.

Much of Burt’s research is conducted with him as the sole author, though several of his publications over the past decade have included Jennifer Merluzzi as a co-author. In addition, Burt’s dissertation advisor was none other than James S. Coleman, a fellow SNA All-Star. Moreover, his dissertation committee included Edward Laumann, another SNA researcher.

His recent publications include:

"Reputation and Status as Contingency Factors," January 2014 working paper

"Embedded Teams: Network Brokers and Positive Anchors in IBD Medical Care," R. S. Burt, Gavin W. Hougham, Christopher S. Lyttle, David O. Meltzer, and Peter S. Margolis, December 2013 working paper

"Embedded Brokerage: Hubs versus Locals," R.S. Burt and Jennifer Merluzzi, 2014, Research in the Sociology of Organizations, edited by Stephen P. Borgatti, Daniel J. Brass, Daniel S. Halgin, Giuseppe Labianca, and Ajay Mehra

Neighbor Networks, 2010 Oxford University Press

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