Wired into Each Other: Network Dynamics of Adolescents in Hungarian Secondary Schools: 2010-2013

The project “Wired into each other” is a three-year longitudinal social network study conducted by the Research Center for Educational and Network Studies (RECENS) of Corvinus University of Budapest and the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. The study involved the collection of a unique, large-scale survey dataset about the evolution of interpersonal relations and various individual behaviours and attitudes in more than 40 student communities from Hungary between 2010 and 2013. The project aimed at a) developing novel measures of informal social networks among students and b) gaining new insight into the social processes shaping adolescent communities. In scope of this, the RECENS team developed a multi-item network questionnaire about peer relations in more than 30 different aspects, including contact, affection, behavioural perceptions, role and status attributions, and bullying. Using this measurement tool, the team collected data of unprecedented depth about the multidimensional nature of social processes in school communities. The dataset allows researchers to study the social mechanisms behind status competition, group formation, ethnic integration (with focus on the Roma minority group), bullying and victimization, school performance, substance use, and other phenomena.