From Invisible to Visible - Positive Deviance Initiative

xxiv See Lukes, S. (1985). Emile Durkheim: His Life and Work, a Historical and Critical Study. Stanford
University Press.
xxv Durkheim is especially credited with making the study of sociology a science.
xxvi The study of social networks have been used widely, both as theory and method, by sociologists, anthropologists,
sociolinguists, geographers, information scientists, organizational scholars, economists, biologists,
and others (Valente, 1995). Epidemiologists have used social network mapping to understand how patterns
of human contact aid or inhibit the spread of diseases in a population. The well-known study on identifying
Gaëtan Dugas, a French-Canadian airline steward, as “Patient Zero” for the transmission of HIV/AIDS in
North America was a study that mapped social networks (Rogers, 1995). The study found that at least 40
of the 248 people diagnosed with AIDS in the U.S. by April 1982 were thought to have had sex either with
him or with someone who had. See Valente, T. W. (1995). Network Models of the Diffusion of Innovations.
Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press; and Rogers, E. M. (1995). Diffusion of Innovations (4 th ed.). New York: The
Free Press.
xxvii Along with a dense core, the loose peripheries are key as they signify “weak interpersonal ties”
(Granovetter, 1973). Weak ties are more likely to introduce new ideas to network members than close ties.
For instance, a group of friends who only do things with each other already share the same knowledge and
opportunities. However, those with connections to other social worlds are likely to have access to a wider
range of information. In essence, informationally, it is better for individuals to have connections to a variety
of networks rather than many connections within a single network. See Granovetter, M. (1973). The
strength of weak ties. American Journal of Sociology, 78, 1360-1380.
xxvii On account of her training in microbiology
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