1. Network Genie Getting Started with Web-based Social Network
Survey Data Collection
User’s Manual
This presentation will introduce you to Network Genie and its major features. You may want to download a free copy of the Network Genie User’s Manual from the website for more detailed information.

2. What Network Genie Allows You to Do
Design social network surveys
Create social network data collection projects
Collect social network survey data
Export data pre-formatted for social network analysis
Network Genie is a unique web-application that requires no Active-X controls or program downloads. It requires only a web-browser and Internet connection. The sole purpose of Network Genie is to make it easy for you to collect social network survey data. Network Genie is not an analysis program. The application will allow you to Design social network surveys, create social network data collection projects, collect social network survey. data and export data pre-formatted for social network analysis.

3. Becoming a User Two methods of becoming a Network Genie User
Project Coordinator (full privileges; full responsibilities)
Team Member (added by an existing Project Coordinator; privileges and responsibilities are defined by the Project Coordinator)
It is easy to become a Network Genie user. If you are interested in designing and managing your own projects, become a Project Coordinator. Once you are a Project Coordinator, you can add team members and define the privileges they have for using Network Genie.

4. Becoming a Project Coordinator
Step 1: Go to the Network Genie Admin website:
and click on the link at the bottom of the page
It’s easy to become a Project Coordinator. To start, go to the Network Genie admin website and click on the “I would like to Register as a Project Coordinator” link near the bottom of the page.

5. Becoming a Project Coordinator
Step 2: Complete contact information
We need to have contact information in order to keep you abreast of information and for the Network Genie application to communicate with you. We do not share your information with third party vendors.

6. Becoming a Project Coordinator
Step 3: Agree to Project Coordinator responsibilities
At the bottom of the registration page, there are four important responsibilities you need to agree to if you wish to be a Project Coordinator. You also need to accept the End-User License Agreement, which, among other things, explains how your data are protected. Once you have completed registration, you will be allowed to log in to Network Genie and begin using its features.

7. Designing Surveys
Network Genie supports two types of social network surveys:
Complete network surveys (all members of the network are known in advance)
Ego centric network surveys (participants may or may not be known in advance; network members are not known in advance)
Network Genie allows you to administer social network surveys over the Internet. The field of social network analysis uses many different terms for the kinds of surveys and projects people conduct. Network Genie is designed to support complete network surveys and ego-centric network surveys.

8. Survey Components All surveys include:
Social network items (questions about people in the network)
Person-centered items (questions about the person who is completing the survey)
Whether you are conducting complete network or ego-centric network surveys, both social network questions and person-centered questions can be included in the survey. This will allow you to ask questions about the people who are completing the survey as well as about the people in their network.

9. Working with Surveys It is easy to work with surveys:
Click on “Create a New Survey” or “Clone an Existing Survey” in the navigation area
Click on an existing survey listed under “Surveys” in the work area
On your home page, there is a navigation area on the left and a work area on the right. Crumbs will appear just above both areas to show you where you are. The work area on your home page will list both projects and surveys that you have created. Network Genie provides you with examples of each. Because most people start by thinking about the questions they want to ask, let’s start our tour looking at surveys. It is easy to work with surveys: Click on “Create a New Survey” or “Clone an Existing Survey” in the navigation area. Click on an existing survey listed under “Surveys” in the work area. This introduction will take advantage of the example survey to show how things work.

10. The Example Survey
Network Genie allows users to create powerful social network surveys
The Example Survey demonstrates the types of complete network questions that can be asked
Social network surveys typically have few questions primarily because each question is intended to gather information about many people. The Example Survey has 11 questions. These demonstrate the variety of social network questions Network Genie supports.

11. Network Subgroup Identification
Egos (respondents) identify alters (people in their personal network) based on criteria posed by questions you ask
The Example Survey includes three Network Subgroup Identification questions. Each of these questions asks survey participants to identify a subgroup from a larger group. In social network analysis, it is very common to identify subgroups based on some criteria.

12. Networks Can Be Nested
Nesting allows subgroups to be created within larger groups
Subsequent questions ask only about the most recently identified subgroup
Network Genie uses information gathered in response to Network Subgroup Identification questions to limit who is included as an alter in subsequent questions. So, for instance, if you want to learn about friendship patterns among teens, you could ask questions that would be relevant to acquaintances, about friends that would be relevant to them, and then ask for information about best friends that would be most relevant to them. A workplace survey may first ask the respondent to answer a question to identify fellow workers, collaborators, and then team mates.

13. An Ego’s View of Network Subgroup Identification
When surveys are administered to participants, they see a box on the left that contains all the names in the network they are being asked about. They move names from the left to the right by either double clicking on the name or by highlighting the name and using the buttons in the middle to execute the move. Participants can sort names by last, first and nick name. They can also search for a name, which can be handy if the initial network is very large. Subsequent questions will ask about people whose names appear in the “Selected Member” box on the right.

14. Social Rating Questions
Asks questions that use either a single response (radio button) or an all that apply (check box) format
Inserts names from the current list of alters
One of the most popular types of questions to ask in social network surveys are rating questions that ask the respondent to make assessments of people in their personal network. Network Genie allows you to design questions with an embedded code that places the names of network members in the question. In this case, Edward Ellis is asked about because the respondent identified him as a person in his close friends network.

15. Social Ranking Questions
Asks questions that require alters to be ordered
Network Genie also allows you to ask questions in which you require respondents to put members of their network in some rank order. Names are moved from left to right and then ordered from top to bottom. The minus and plus keys are used to move names up and down within the box on the right. The respondent cannot proceed until all names on the left have been moved to the right.

16. Social Nomination Questions
Asks questions that require participants to select only one alter from the current alter network
The Example Survey includes four items known as Social Nomination Questions. This allows you to ask questions where you want the name of only one person. These questions are usually asked when you are looking for a person within a network who has a superlative quality such as leadership, humility, the gift of gab, or the ability to remain silent.

17. Ego Centric Network Surveys
Require two unique item types:
Ego Centric Subject Identification (the participant must identify himself or herself)
Ego Centric Network Identification (the participant enters identifying information about alters in his or her network)
Ego centric items are placed at the beginning of the survey
What you see in the Example Survey is a typical complete network survey. Ego-centric surveys require two additional types of questions. The respondent needs to identify him or herself. And, it is up to the person taking the survey to provide the list of people who make up his or her network. These questions are always placed at the beginning of an ego-centric survey.

18. Example Ego Centric Survey
As an example, the question with the green background asks the respondent to identify him or herself. The two questions with the blue background are questions that are used to gather information about who is in that person’s network – in this case relatives and friends. Question 4 is a social rating question that will ask about how much support the respondent received from everyone identified from either question.

19. Person-Centered Questions
Network Genie allows you to ask questions of the person taking the survey about him or herself
Person-Centered Questions are formatted as multiple response questions
Navigate using the link on the “Network Survey Main” page
Most surveys also want to ask about the person who is taking the survey. . . age, gender, what they think, what they have done. All of these questions are person-centered questions. Questions are formatted as multiple choice response questions. Get to the area in Network Genie where you can define these questions and include them in your survey by clicking on the “Person-Centered Items” on the “Network Survey Main” page.

20. Library of Measures
All measures you create will be stored in a private library
You can easily import previously created measures into new surveys
On the home page and on the web pages designed to help you create surveys, there are links to the Network Genie Library of Measures. Every question you create gets stored in the library. That way, you can easily create future surveys by borrowing questions from the library. It is a long-term goal of Network Genie to create a large library of measures that people will be able to use so that they can use standardized methods for gathering data. To date, most person-centered questions in the Network Genie public library are about adolescent health.

21. Working with Projects Projects are how: Co-workers are managed
Participant network lists are entered
Surveys are activated
Informed consent (if needed) is tracked
Participants are invited to complete surveys
Participant activity is tracked
Data are downloaded for analysis
Once surveys are designed, they need to be used. You can control how surveys are used in the Project area of the Network Genie application. You can manage co-workers, creating a team to help you complete various tasks, you can enter network lists, you can activate surveys so that they are linked with network lists. If you are conducting research and have requirements to gather informed consent, you can track approvals. Network Genie also provides a way for you to invite and track participants as they complete surveys. Finally, it is within projects that data are downloaded so they can be analyzed in social network data analysis programs.

22. Working with Projects There are two easy ways to work with projects:
Click on “Create a New Project” in the navigation area
Click on an existing project listed under “Projects” in the work area
From your Network Genie home page, you can either create a new project or open an existing project, such as the Example Project that is provided to you when you register as a Project Coordinator.

23. The Example Project
Network Genie allows users to manage all elements of a project
The Example Project demonstrates each step of project management
The Example Project is a useful way to learn about how to complete all of the project management tasks completed by Network Genie. You will see that each project has a description, a coordinator, and specifies whether or not it is an ego-centric project. Remember, if the project is not ego-centric, it must be a complete network project. You also define when you create a project or edit a project’s information whether the project requires informed consent and where person-centered items will appear. To change any of the settings for a project, click on the “Edit Project Information” link.

24. Manage Your Project Team
You can authorize co-workers to help with projects as Team Members
Network Genie tracks basic information about Team Members
Having a team to help you with social network projects can be really helpful. Team members are assigned to projects.

25. Members Have Privileges
You control which privileges Team Members have for each project on which they work
There are a variety of roles Team Members can be asked to play. As a Project Coordinator you can control which privileges Team Members can have, and which ones they are not allowed to have.

26. Managing Network Lists
Social network lists are the heart of complete network projects
Network Genie makes it easy to manage network lists
Social network projects are all about the network. Network Genie is designed to make adding and editing names of people to be included in network lists easy.

27. Working with Lists
Network Genie gives you several options for working with social network lists
Network Genie gives you several options for working with social network lists. You can create new lists, transfer names that already exist from another project, or, if you already have a list associated with the project you are working on, you can manage that list.

28. Acquiring New Lists
There are three ways to acquire names for network lists
There are three ways to acquire names for network lists for a given project. You can upload data from a spreadsheet file, add names from another project, or use cut and paste features to enter names. Network Genie has specific format requirements that are outlined in the User’s Manual.

29. Maintaining Lists
You can manually add and edit names in existing lists
Once you have a list in place, you can add and edit the list. Network Genie lists consist of last names, first names, and middle names or initials. There is also room for suffixes, such as junior and senior, nick names and addresses. The nick name field is modifiable. If you want to rename the field to keep track of divisions within a company, you can click the highlighted button and edit how this field is named.

30. Activation Activation involves linking a survey and a network
Having a survey and a list of names prepares you to activate a survey. Surveys need to be activated before they can be administered.

31. Activation Options You can: Create a new activation
Edit the details of an existing activation
View details about participants of an existing activation
Within a project, you can create a new activation. This will allow you to use a different network and even a different survey within one project. Once defined, you can edit the activation and you can also track participants, viewing important details about data collection.

32. Activation Details
You create and edit details using drop down menus and selecting from among available options
When you create an activation, there are details that need to be defined – the network, the survey, and how participants will log in. These are controlled on the Activation Maintenance page.

33. Tracking Participation
Network Genie helps you:
Manage informed consent
Invite participants and give them instructions
Track survey completion
Network Genie has an easy-to-use system for inviting participants using invitations. You can edit the invitation text and either send invitations to all participants or to selected participants. If informed consent is required, Network Genie helps you keep track of informed consent. You can also track the status of participants – who has completed surveys and who has not started.

34. Data Security Network Genie: Encrypts data
Stores data on a secure network server protected by firewalls and other security measures
Allows Project Coordinators to strip names from the database (an irreversible step that should be taken cautiously)
All Network Genie data is originally collected on a secure server where all data are encrypted. We have established state of the art security protections to guard your data from access by anyone without authorization. As an added measure, once you have completed collecting data for a project, we encourage you to strip names from the database. Names are replaced with Network Genie generated ID numbers.

35. Network Genie users can easily download data
Data Analysis
Network Genie users can easily download data
The whole purpose of collecting social network data is to allow you to conduct whatever analyses you wish. Network Genie makes it easy to prepare data for analysis.

36. Analyze Main From the “Analyze Main” page, select “Raw Data”
Only the simplest of analyses are provided with Network Genie. What you are most likely to be interested in is getting access to your raw data.

37. Select a Data Format
Network Genie formats data for common social network analysis programs
Network Genie formats data for common social network analysis programs. The application provides you with data in various forms and includes a codebook to help you remember what the numbers mean. The options provided allow you to have access to all of your data in an easy-to-use format of your choice.

38. Licensing
Network Genie collects fees prior to data download and is based on number of egos in the network
Number of Egos
Price per Ego
1-49
$3.00 each
$1.50 each
1,000 or more
Call for pricing
Consulting
1st hour free; $75 per hour thereafter
Up until the point of downloading your data, everything you are allowed to do with Network Genie is free of charge. However, you must pay before you can have access to the data you have collected. The Network Genie fee structure allows you to collect large amounts of data at a reasonable cost.

39. Payment Options Network Genie users can:
Pay at the time of data download
Pay in advance
You can always pay at the time you download; however, you may wish to purchase a larger license in advance to keep your costs as low as possible.

40. How to Purchase a License
Click on “License Maintenance” on the “Analyze Main” page or go to the website:
A license key and activation code will be ed
When you purchase a license for Network Genie, you will receive a license key and an activation code by . If you are purchasing a large license for an organization, anyone with access to the code can apply it to their data. The license is just like cash – once it is spent, it cannot be retrieved or used again.

41. Technical Support
Technical support is available during business hours (Eastern US Time)
IT Support (Eric Reese)
x109
Training (Bill Hansen)
x101
We hope you find using Network Genie will make social network survey data collection easy and flexible. We are committed to helping users get the most out of Network Genie. I.T. support and training support are available during normal business hours.