Beáta Dávid

Estimating the Size of the Homeless Population in Budapest, Hungary

In this study we try to estimate the size of the homeless population in Budapest by using two – non-standard – sampling methods: snowball sampling and capture-recapture method. Using two methods and three different data sets we are able to compare the methods as well as the results, and we also suggest some further applications. Apart from the practical purpose of our study there is a methodological one as well: to use two relatively unknown methods for the estimations of this very peculiar kind of population.

Egocentric contact networks in comparison: Taiwan and Hungary

Abstract This study compares the size and structure of egocentric networks in Taiwan and Hungary using a diary approach. Both countries have transformed from authoritarian regimes to democratic states, yet they differ in social, economic, and cultural institutions that may be common to the respective larger region where each is located. To sample the structure of each egocentric network, we extracted information from largely identical contact diaries collected in both countries, 51 from Taiwan and 138 from Hungary. After comparing sample characteristics, network size, and composition, we construct a Strength of Ties (SoT) index based on two objective and two subjective measures of ego-alter ties. We then use this index to analyze tie strength by the types of relationships. On average, the number of alters contacted in one week is much larger in Taiwan than in Hungary, and the gap remains unchanged after controlling for key socio-demographic background factors. Even though the four indicators that we use to construct the SoT index are distributed similarly among the respondents in both Taiwan and Hungary, the composite index pinpoints how the types of relationships play somewhat different roles across the nations. The findings imply that the tendency to maintain only the closest ties with kin and other close friends is linked to distrust in others, a possible ill effect lingering from the authoritarian past. The implication is partially supported by further analyses using the ISSP 2006 survey data. We address how our findings may contribute to the existing literature on the linkage between societal characteristics and interpersonal ties.

Social Network Analysis : Applied Tool to Enhance Effective Collaboration between Child Protection Organisations by Revealing and Strengthening Work Relationships

In 2009, an organizational research was led by the Social Work department of the Veszprem College of Theology on how the child protection system of children actually operates . Mixed methodology was used . In-depth interviews were conducted (N = 58) among the different actors of the child protection system . The qualitative approach was complemented by social network analysis . Revealing the mechanism based on the actors’ perception on how the child protection network operates, we identified and named the strengths and weaknesses of its structure. We also enumerated the interviewees’ propositions that can be the pillars of a future co-operation . Our conclusion is slightly bit atypical in the sense that in our study we could report positive changes implemented since 2009 . The aim of our study is to show how social network analysis can be a useful tool to help professionals’ collaboration in the social field.

Mapping the Post-communist Class Structure: Findings from a New Multidimensional Hungarian Class Survey

In this article, we define a schema for the class structure of Hungary, in which we consider a case for an Eastern-European capitalist system emerging from post-communist societies. Our schema is based on the findings of the Hungarian Class Survey, 2014. Using six measures of Bourdieusian economic, cultural, and social capital and applying the methodology of latent class analysis (LCA), we have constructed a model of eight LCA-based classes: upper class, cultural middle class, affluent middle class, young urban consumers, network-embedded rural workers, young drifters, middle-aged deprived, and the precariat. Hungarian society seems to be quite hierarchical but is also fragmented within the upper and lower strata. Status inconsistency in terms of possessing economic, cultural, and social capital is strongly present even for the middle classes. There is a clear divide in our class model between the upper four and the lower four classes, in terms of vertical and nonvertical aspects of social stratification. We also compare our new multidimensional class typology to the traditional occupation-based one and demonstrate its added value for class analysis in Hungary.

Mapping social milieus and cohesion patterns between 1997 and 2014. Exploiting the potential of the occupational position generator

Abstract The study joins the stream of the social network approach attempting to look beyond micro-level association patterns towards macro-structural modeling. Utilizing the versatility of the occupational position generator technique for measuring network resources generally related to hierarchical aspects, an attempt is made to apply the tool for horizontal targets. Furthermore, with some conceptual transfer, the paper applies the distinction between omnivorous and univorous patterns of symbolic selectivity to nexus choice as well. The comparative investigation relies on data from four Hungarian national surveys from the 1990s on, using 19 items of the position generator to measure network resources. Exploratory and confirmative factor analyses reveal four dimensions of occupational milieus; Goodman RC modeling outlines two organizing axes behind them interpreted in network terms as status and betweenness centrality. Latent class analysis results in a five-element typology with both vertical and horizontal features. The findings point to the stability, in some respects to the increase of gaps between various segments along the social ladder. As concerns the cultural aspect, returns on relational selectivity indicate some fading or even reversal of the omnivorous trend in contemporary Hungary; both tendencies suggesting some growth of distances between milieus with the related problems of social cohesion.