A Social Network Analysis of Concert Band Adjudication

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Sunday 1:30 pm Four Seasons Ballroom 1
  In Roundtable Session: Examining Instrumental Music Education (Table 5)

Abstract

This study examines the social network generated by adjudicators at high school concert band events in Florida and Virginia between 2013 and 2024. Using a theoretical framework including assessment principles, social network theory, and social capital, this study examined who adjudicated at these events, the connections they made through adjudication, and relationships between network attributes and adjudicator reliability. Results show that networks in each state are highly dispersed with numerous structural holes. Findings suggest through the networks, a small nucleus of adjudicators are influential in each state. Measures of reliability were mixed and a negligible connection exists between reliability and network attributes. Findings are discussed related to how these events develop social capital, and recommendations to refine adjudicator selection practices.

Author

• Emmett J. O'Leary, Virginia Tech