Dinh defends dissertation

Doctoral candidate Ly Dinh successfully defended her dissertation, "Advances to Network Analysis Theories and Methods for the Understanding of Formal and Emergent Structures in Interpersonal, Corporate/Organizational, and Hazards Response Setting," on May 19.

Her committee included Associate Professor Jana Diesner (chair); Assistant Professor Peter Darch; Scott Althaus, professor in the Department of Communication and Department of Political Science, UIUC; and Leysia Palen, professor in the Department of Computer Science and Department of Information Science, University of Colorado Boulder.

Abstract: Network analysis provides valuable theoretical and methodological toolkits to investigate complex systems of social-technical relations. It has been applied to various social science research contexts to understand the mechanisms for individuals and groups to form connections. Furthermore, extant literature finds that networks of social organizing often comprise of structures that are formally specified (i.e., formal) and informally created from unplanned interactions (i.e., emergent). This dissertation builds upon prior literature in network science theories and methods with a goal to examine the formal and emergent structures of organizing in (1) interpersonal, (2) corporate/organizational communication, and (3) hazards response setting. The findings contribute to the growing literature on the theories and applications of network analysis to real-world social networks, with a specific focus on discovering the emergent network patterns and how they are meaningfully different from formal (or expected) structures. The study designs developed in this dissertation also provide frameworks for network-based studies to examine the mechanisms involved in tie formation.

Updated on
Backto the news archive

Related News

Get to know Simit Shah, MSIM student

Simit Shah worked as a consultant for Deloitte in India before enrolling in the MSIM program to strengthen his analytical and business skills. Over the summer, he applied the knowledge gained from his iSchool coursework during an internship as a technology risk consultant at EY.

Simit Shah

Pila awarded Ruth Fine Memorial Student Loan

MSLIS student Nathaniel Allen (Nat) Pila has been selected as the 2025 recipient of the Ruth Fine Memorial Student Loan, awarded annually by the District of Columbia Library Association (DCLA). The award will support Pila as he begins his studies in the iSchool at the University of Illinois. 

Nathaniel Allen Pila

New grant to help Multiple Sclerosis patients manage depression

Associate Professor Jessie Chin has received a $215,000 grant from the National Multiple Sclerosis Society (NMSS grant RFA-2411-44091) for a two-year project to improve how people with multiple sclerosis (PwMS) manage depression. 

Jessie Chin

Internship Spotlight: National Endowment for the Humanities

PhD student Owen Monroe reflects on his internship with the National Endowment for the Humanities Office of Digital Humanities, held from May to December 2024. Last month, the NEH programs officer Monroe worked with during his internship discussed some of their work at the Digital Humanities conference in Lisbon, Portugal. 

Owen Monroe

Maimone to receive ALISE Youth Services Graduate Student Travel Award

Doctoral candidate Jessie Maimone has been selected as the recipient of the 2025 Association for Library and Information Science Education (ALISE) Youth Services Graduate Student Travel Award. She will be honored at an awards presentation during the ALISE 2025 Annual Conference, which will be held October 6–8 in Kansas City, Missouri.

Jessie Maimone