Joshua Melville

Profile

Joshua Melville is a DPhil student at the OII and Balliol College. His work falls broadly into three main areas: 1) the analysis of multiplex mediated relationships between individuals 2) the consideration of networked resources (such as social capital), and their distribution relative to the structural characteristics of networks 3) the impact of the subjective dimension of network cognition on the capacity of individuals to act on network structure.

His research designs often draw on formal social network analysis but also depend heavily on qualitative elements such as ethnography and interviewing. He is particularly interested in the development of new research instruments (both for lab use and use in the field) for capturing and visualising network data, and would welcome collaborations in this area.

He has worked as a research assistant on the 'Me, My Spouse and the Internet' project, which uses a vast trans-national dataset to examine how the contemporary patterns in online dating have impacted intimate relationships.

He is currently involved in several projects within the OII, including maintaining and developing the codebase for NameGenWeb, a teaching excellence award funded network capture, analysis and visualisation tool for Facebook ego networks.

His academic background is in Sociology, with a particular interest on semiotic, critical, and post-structural work.

Before coming to Oxford in 2011, Joshua studied at the University of Manchester, initially completing a BA in Economics and Social Studies in 2008, before going on to complete an MSc in Sociological Research in 2010. His MSc thesis explored the structural and perceptual relationship between close personal networks and technologically facilitated networks (for example those found on SNSs), and expanded on earlier work that pioneered the use of sociograms as interview elicitation devices.

Please feel free to get in touch to discuss any aspect of my (or your own) research.

Positions held at the OII

• DPhil student, October 2011 -
• Research Assistant, October 2011 -

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Research

Past projects

• Interactive Visualizations for Teaching, Research, and Dissemination

  May - September 2012

  "InteractiveVis" aims to support easy creation of interactive visualisations for geospatial and network data by researchers: it will survey existing solutions, build currently missing features, and smooth over incompatibilities between existing libraries.

• Knowledge Exchange Networks: A Case Study in the Efficacy of Interactive Visualization

  March - December 2012

  Knowledge exchange implies forging, facilitating and fostering social connections. Oxford's Knowledge Exchange Network addresses this need among university staff and external stakeholders. We assist the KE Network through interactive network mapping.

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Thesis

Thesis title to be confirmed.

Supervisor

• Dr Bernie Hogan

  Research Fellow

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News

• Tweets decide SAFC v Toon fans’ debate

  12 January 2013 Jarrow and Hebburn Gazette

  Regional newspaper, the Jarrow and Hebburn Gazette highlights the references to the football clubs of the North East in the Premier League Twitter map created by the OII team.

• Chasing data shadows: Twitter map of football fans

  11 January 2013 University of Oxford

  A team from the OII has created an interactive Twitter map to find out where conversations about premier league football clubs originate.  It shows that there are fewer Manchester United fans in London and the south-east than is popularly assumed.

• Most Man U fans do not come from the south, study shows

  11 January 2013 ITV

  ITV reports the work of the OII team on the interactive Premier League Twitter map.

• Now a Twitter map of football fans

  11 January 2013 India Blooms

  India based web-site reports the work of the OII team on the interactive Premier League Twitter map.

• Oxford Internet Institute maps Premier League Twitter conversations in UK

  11 January 2013 Anchorfan

  Social Sport News site reports on the interactive map produced by Mark Graham and the OII team which maps twitter conversations about Premier League football clubs.

• Twitter map finally reveals exactly where Manchester United fans live

  11 January 2013 Daily Telegraph

  The Daily Telegraph highlights the ‘fascinating’ map plotting Twitter conversations about Premier League Football clubs created by a team at the OII.

• Which Premier League teams are the most popular in search area? A Twitter interactive map

  11 January 2013 The Guardian

  The interactive map of geotagged Tweets mentioning Premier League teams or associated hashtags  created by the team at the OII features on the Data Store Show and Tell page of the Guardian.

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