Unveiling the Types of Knowledge Brokers and their Behavioral Patterns in Informal Social Networks

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Wednesday 7:45 am - Gold 3
  In Roundtable Session: Beyond the Numbers: Advancing Mixed Methods through Critical Race Theory, Quantitative Ethnography, and Network Analysis for Educational Justice

Abstract

Knowledge brokers play an instrumental role in mobilizing high-quality information and resources within informal social networks. This has become increasingly important in addressing existing structural inequities. We introduce a novel analytical framework examining how knowledge brokers’ roles and behavioral patterns produce distinct topical foci in informal social networks. Using X as an exemplary showcase, we employ a multi-layered approach combining inductively coded role information, hierarchical classification of behavior, and BERTopic modeling on 379,678 tweets from 2,167 users. Our results demonstrate that the interplay between knowledge brokers’ professional roles and behavioral patterns has significant implications on the content they mobilize. These insights can in turn be used to effectively identify knowledge brokers best suited to support equity-focused educational initiatives.

Authors

• Martin Rehm, University of Southern Denmark

• Elisabeth Munth Andersen, University of Southern Denmark

• Anita Caduff, University of Michigan

• Mimi Lockton, University of California - San Diego

• Alan J. Daly, University of California - San Diego