(1983). Research Round-Up. Connections, 6 (2) - INSNA

- 1 2 -However, this latter relationship should be less than overwhelming, because weak ties may linkone to individuals at lower social positions . In fact, the strength of ties probably makes an insignificantimpact on reaching better social resources for those at initially high social positions . Asone's initial position gets nearer to the top of the structure, there should be greater advantage ofusing strong ties to reach positions with similar (and better) social resources . In the limiting case,at the very top level of the structure, one should find strong ties rather than weak ties to be instrumentallyimportant, as weak ties there would simply increase the likelihood of reaching lower positionsin the structure . In general, I expect an interaction effect of initial position and strength of tieson social resources reached . The greatest effect of the strength of ties on social resources reachedshould occur when one's initial position is very low .To recapitulate, a theory of instrumental action has been proposed, focusing on the use of socialcontacts . Based on an assumption about the distribution of resources among the hierarchical positionsin the social structure, it is postulated that higher positions possess greater resources as well associal resources . Therefore, it is expected that the success of instrumental actions depends largelyon the social resources of the contact used . The likelihood of reaching good social resources is dictatedby (1) the initial position of the person taking the instrumental action (the strength of positionsproposition), and (2) the use of weak ties rather than strong ties (the strength of ties proposition)in reaching a contact . Further, there is an interaction between the initial position and thestrength of ties : the effect of using weak ties rather than strong ties increases as the initial positionis lower .A program of research has been designed and carried out to test various aspects of thistheory . So far, three studies have been conducted : a Small World study, and two job-seekingstudies in Albany and in the State of New York . I will now describe each of these studies andbriefly discuss findings relevant to this theory .The SmallWorldStudyIn 1975, a small world study (about the techniques, see Milgram, 1967 ; and Bernard and Killworth,1978) was conducted in the tri-city area of Albany-Schenectady-Troy in the State of New York (Lin,Dayton and Greenwald, 1977, 1978) . About 300 volunteers were asked to forward packets describing atarget person to that person, either directly (if the volunteer knew the person) or indirectly . Bytracing the forwarding chains, we determined which chains succeeded in reaching the target (about 30%did) . Information gathered from the volunteers and the contacts (intermediaries) permitted analysesof their characteristics .The data supported the proposition that the success of reaching a target person (a stranger) waspositively associated with the social resources provided by the contact used . Reaching the target personwas more likely if the packets were transmitted from male toward female targets rather than fromfemale toward male targets . Also, reaching the target person was more likely if the packets were transmittedfrom persons with higher occupational status toward targets of relatively low occupational status,rather than from persons with moderate or low occupational status . The fact that the prevailing valuedresources in American society (gender and occupational status) clearly influenced the likelihood of apacket reaching its target, was confirmation of the social resources proposition .Further analysis revealed that the participants in the successful chains (chains in which thepackets successfully reached the target) and the unsuccessful chains were quite distinguishable . Theformer tended to forward the packets not only to others higher in occupational prestige than themselvesbut also much higher than the targets . In contrast, the latter tended to forward the packets to personsoccupying statuses of prestige similar to their own . Here was evidence that as the packet wasforwarded upward in the hierarchical pyramid, the likelihood of eventually locating the target at arelatively low position increased . Thus, the data supports the strength of positions proposition .In addition, the study examined the recency of the last contact between each participant andthe person next in the chain in order to index the strength of ties . The data indicated that participantsin the successful chains unlike those in the unsuccessful chains tended to forward the packetsto persons of less recent contact . The strategy which was most successful involved reaching personswho were not strong ties to the senders . To further verify the fact that weak ties rather than strongties were instrumentally more useful, the relations between each pair of sender and receiver was examined. The results showed that the participants in the successful chains tended to utilize fewerstrong ties in their forwarding effort . The successful terminals (those who forwarded the packetsto the target) clearly showed that they had weak ties with the targets . These data support the strengthof ties proposition .The Job-seeking StudiesIn a 1975 study of job-seeking activities for a representative sample of 399 males, aged 20-64