Friendship Concept and Community Network Structure among Elementary School and University Students.

ABSTRACT: We use complex network theory to study the differences between the friendship concepts in elementary school and university students. Four friendship networks were identified from surveys. Three of these networks are from elementary schools; two are located in the rural area of Yucatán and the other is in the urban area of Mérida, Yucatán. We analyzed the structure and the communities of these friendship networks and found significant differences among those at the elementary schools compared with those at the university. In elementary schools, the students make friends mainly in the same classroom, but there are also links among different classrooms because of the presence of siblings and relatives in the schools. These kinds of links (sibling-friend or relative-friend) are called, in this

SUBMITTER: Hernandez-Hernandez AM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5070781 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature