Dimitri Fazito

Assessing Network Scale-up Estimates for Groups Most at Risk of HIV/AIDS: Evidence From a Multiple-Method Study of Heavy Drug Users in Curitiba, Brazil

One of the many challenges hindering the global response to the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) epidemic is the difficulty of collecting reliable information about the populations most at risk for the disease. Thus, the authors empirically assessed a promising new method for estimating the sizes of most at-risk populations: the network scale-up method. Using 4 different data sources, 2 of which were from other researchers, the authors produced 5 estimates of the number of heavy drug users in Curitiba, Brazil. The authors found that the network scale-up and generalized network scale-up estimators produced estimates 5–10 times higher than estimates made using standard methods (the multiplier method and the direct estimation method using data from 2004 and 2010). Given that equally plausible methods produced such a wide range of results, the authors recommend that additional studies be undertaken to compare estimates based on the scale-up method with those made using other methods. If scale-up-based methods routinely produce higher estimates, this would suggest that scale-up-based methods are inappropriate for populations most at risk of HIV/AIDS or that standard methods may tend to underestimate the sizes of these populations.

The Game of Contacts: Estimating the Social Visibility of Groups

Estimating the sizes of hard-to-count populations is a challenging and important problem that occurs frequently in social science, public health, and public policy. This problem is particularly pressing in HIV/AIDS research because estimates of the sizes of the most at-risk populations-illicit drug users, men who have sex with men, and sex workers-are needed for designing, evaluating, and funding programs to curb the spread of the disease. A promising new approach in this area is the network scale-up method, which uses information about the personal networks of respondents to make population size estimates. However, if the target population has low social visibility, as is likely to be the case in HIV/AIDS research, scale-up estimates will be too low. In this paper we develop a game-like activity that we call the game of contacts in order to estimate the social visibility of groups, and report results from a study of heavy drug users in Curitiba, Brazil (n = 294). The game produced estimates of social visibility that were consistent with qualitative expectations but of surprising magnitude. Further, a number of checks suggest that the data are high-quality. While motivated by the specific problem of population size estimation, our method could be used by researchers more broadly and adds to long-standing efforts to combine the richness of social network analysis with the power and scale of sample surveys.

Redes sociales en una investigación de migración indígena: el caso de Manaus

Este trabajo pretende discutir algunos aspectos de metodo en el mapeo de redes sociales con migrantes indigenas, a partir de una investigacion etnografica realizada con un grupo de migrantes indios (Alto Rio Negro) y residentes en la ciudad de Manaus (Amazonia). El trazado de las redes sociales fue una herramienta crucial en campo, permitiendo identificar los individuos dispersados en el lugar de destino de la migracion, obtener datos sobre los modos de desplazamiento o instalacion de los migrantes en el medio urbano. Si, por una parte, se mostro un importante instrumento de investigacion, se revelo tambien como nocion esencial desde el punto de vista teorico, ya que las propias redes disenadas constituian una fuerte evidencia de la cohesion social, de la manutencion y reelaboracion de los lazos etnicos en el contexto urbano. Las redes mapeadas, por ejemplo, revelaron la maleabilidad de las fronteras etnicas disenadas por los grupos, resultado de las relaciones sociales desarrolladas durante el trayecto migratorio, al paso que nos obligaba a aprehender el fenomeno etnico desde el punto de vista de una genuina antropologia relacional. Hoy, las nuevas tecnologias informatizadas permiten la mejor visualizacion y el analisis mas detallado de las redes sociales (ARS), que el que fue posible realizar manualmente en la epoca de la investigacion (1980). Los nuevos recursos hacen aun mas importante esa herramienta en la investigacion etnografica. Discutir las multiples posibilidades y aplicaciones en la investigacion de flujos migratorios indigenas es lo que proponemos en este trabajo.

Emigração internacional de brasileiros para os Estados Unidos: as redes sociais e o papel de intermediação nos deslocamentos exercido pelas agências de turismo

This article analyzes the role of “intermediary mechanisms” (especially the active role of tourist agencies) in the international emigration process of Brazilians to the USA. First a dynamic and relational approach to the understanding of the migration phenomenon is established. Next, a formal structural analysis (grounded on Social Network Analysis and Graph Theory) was carried out to facilitate understanding of emigration by considering its basic structural characteristics. The final analysis suggests that tourist agencies play an important role of structural mediation for migrants entering the country. The action of such agencies is decisive in regulating migratory flows through well-established social networks in the Brazilian international migration system.

Of a method for estimating the average population size of personal networks and the size of hard-to-count populations

The method known as Network Scale-Up (NSU) – used for expanding social networks – is used to estimate hard-to-count populations, based on the idea that human populations are organized in a complex web of social interactions, to which all individuals, regardless of specific personal attributes, are connected. If we know the pattern of personal networks associated with certain individual attributes, we can estimate “parcels” of the population that have these same attributes. International migrants, especially those who are undocumented, fit into this type of subpopulation whose size is unknown because of the difficulty or even impossibility of measuring it directly. This article aims at describing the Network Scale-Up method and the methodological procedures necessary to estimate the number of international and returned migrants in a hypothetical, medium-sized, Brazilian city.

Sobre el método para estimar el tamaño medio de las redes personales y el tamaño de poblaciones difíciles de calcular

The method known as Network Scale-Up (NSU) – used for expanding social networks – is used to estimate hard-to-count populations, based on the idea that human populations are organized in a complex web of social interactions, to which all individuals, regardless of specific personal attributes, are connected. If we know the pattern of personal networks associated with certain individual attributes, we can estimate “parcels” of the population that have these same attributes. International migrants, especially those who are undocumented, fit into this type of subpopulation whose size is unknown because of the difficulty or even impossibility of measuring it directly. This article aims at describing the Network Scale-Up method and the methodological procedures necessary to estimate the number of international and returned migrants in a hypothetical, medium-sized, Brazilian city.

Do método para estimar o tamanho médio das redes pessoais e o tamanho de populações difíceis de contar

The method known as Network Scale-Up (NSU) – used for expanding social networks – is used to estimate hard-to-count populations, based on the idea that human populations are organized in a complex web of social interactions, to which all individuals, regardless of specific personal attributes, are connected. If we know the pattern of personal networks associated with certain individual attributes, we can estimate “parcels” of the population that have these same attributes. International migrants, especially those who are undocumented, fit into this type of subpopulation whose size is unknown because of the difficulty or even impossibility of measuring it directly. This article aims at describing the Network Scale-Up method and the methodological procedures necessary to estimate the number of international and returned migrants in a hypothetical, medium-sized, Brazilian city.

Redes sociais em uma investigação de migração indígena: o caso de Manaus

Este trabajo pretende discutir algunos aspectos de metodo en el mapeo de redes sociales con migrantes indigenas, a partir de una investigacion etnografica realizada con un grupo de migrantes indios (Alto Rio Negro) y residentes en la ciudad de Manaus (Amazonia). El trazado de las redes sociales fue una herramienta crucial en campo, permitiendo identificar los individuos dispersados en el lugar de destino de la migracion, obtener datos sobre los modos de desplazamiento o instalacion de los migrantes en el medio urbano. Si, por una parte, se mostro un importante instrumento de investigacion, se revelo tambien como nocion esencial desde el punto de vista teorico, ya que las propias redes disenadas constituian una fuerte evidencia de la cohesion social, de la manutencion y reelaboracion de los lazos etnicos en el contexto urbano. Las redes mapeadas, por ejemplo, revelaron la maleabilidad de las fronteras etnicas disenadas por los grupos, resultado de las relaciones sociales desarrolladas durante el trayecto migratorio, al paso que nos obligaba a aprehender el fenomeno etnico desde el punto de vista de una genuina antropologia relacional. Hoy, las nuevas tecnologias informatizadas permiten la mejor visualizacion y el analisis mas detallado de las redes sociales (ARS), que el que fue posible realizar manualmente en la epoca de la investigacion (1980). Los nuevos recursos hacen aun mas importante esa herramienta en la investigacion etnografica. Discutir las multiples posibilidades y aplicaciones en la investigacion de flujos migratorios indigenas es lo que proponemos en este trabajo.

Social networks in a study on migration of Brazilian Indians: the case of the city of Manaus

Este trabajo pretende discutir algunos aspectos de metodo en el mapeo de redes sociales con migrantes indigenas, a partir de una investigacion etnografica realizada con un grupo de migrantes indios (Alto Rio Negro) y residentes en la ciudad de Manaus (Amazonia). El trazado de las redes sociales fue una herramienta crucial en campo, permitiendo identificar los individuos dispersados en el lugar de destino de la migracion, obtener datos sobre los modos de desplazamiento o instalacion de los migrantes en el medio urbano. Si, por una parte, se mostro un importante instrumento de investigacion, se revelo tambien como nocion esencial desde el punto de vista teorico, ya que las propias redes disenadas constituian una fuerte evidencia de la cohesion social, de la manutencion y reelaboracion de los lazos etnicos en el contexto urbano. Las redes mapeadas, por ejemplo, revelaron la maleabilidad de las fronteras etnicas disenadas por los grupos, resultado de las relaciones sociales desarrolladas durante el trayecto migratorio, al paso que nos obligaba a aprehender el fenomeno etnico desde el punto de vista de una genuina antropologia relacional. Hoy, las nuevas tecnologias informatizadas permiten la mejor visualizacion y el analisis mas detallado de las redes sociales (ARS), que el que fue posible realizar manualmente en la epoca de la investigacion (1980). Los nuevos recursos hacen aun mas importante esa herramienta en la investigacion etnografica. Discutir las multiples posibilidades y aplicaciones en la investigacion de flujos migratorios indigenas es lo que proponemos en este trabajo.

Emigración internacional de brasileños a los Estados Unidos: las redes sociales y el papel de intermediación en los desplazamientos, ejercido por las agencias de turismo

This article analyzes the role of “intermediary mechanisms” (especially the active role of tourist agencies) in the international emigration process of Brazilians to the USA. First a dynamic and relational approach to the understanding of the migration phenomenon is established. Next, a formal structural analysis (grounded on Social Network Analysis and Graph Theory) was carried out to facilitate understanding of emigration by considering its basic structural characteristics. The final analysis suggests that tourist agencies play an important role of structural mediation for migrants entering the country. The action of such agencies is decisive in regulating migratory flows through well-established social networks in the Brazilian international migration system.