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In der Netzwerkforschung etablieren sich zunehmend qualitative Ansätze zur Untersuchung sozialer Beziehungen und sozialer Netzwerke. Bislang mangelt es aber an einer Spezifizierung der genuin qualitativen Perspektiven auf den Gegenstand Netzwerk sowie einer – im Sinne eines methodischen Holismus – konsistenten Forschungspraxis. In diesem Beitrag diskutieren wir, welche theoretischen und methodologischen Perspektiven mit dem symbolischen Interaktionismus in der Tradition Herbert BLUMERs zur qualitativen Untersuchung von sozialen Netzwerken einhergehen.

This article investigates the link between countries’ level of democracy and their ability to attract degree-mobile students from abroad. The network of international student mobility is analyzed for the time span between 2000 and 2009 in a cross-sectional manner, focusing on OECD and member countries of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). Using Social Network Analysis and Exponential Random Graph Modelling, the study demonstrates that ties are more frequent when both countries in a dyad have either low or high levels of democracy, i. e., when there is homophily with regard to their democracy level. However, this applies only when the receiving country is economically wealthy

We found that: (1) Attention to SET originated in the US in the 1970s, spreading to German-speaking countries in the mid-1990s and continuing in China and Latin America in the early 2000s. (2) SET is commonly viewed as a control tool deserving methodological improvement, while bias is debated in the US. We also found local trajectories: (3) Whereas in the US and Latin America SET is primarily seen as a management tool, German-speaking and Chinese authors reflect more on improving teaching. Chinese scholars consider SET a valid instrument for state control associated with artificial intelligence. Also, (4) SET is commonly used in medical education in the US and the German-speaking region and in physical education in China.