The complete network of Sweden: Characteristics, dynamics and consequences of social exposure across multiple social domains

The interconnectedness of individuals has long been recognized as a pivotal factor in shaping social processes.

We know a lot about how social contacts within various social contexts — households, schools, workplaces, neighborhoods — influence individuals’ health, demographic and socioeconomic outcomes.

However, we know rather little about how these different social contexts are interlinked, and thus we lack a good understanding about the true interconnectedness of society and its consequences.In order to fill this gap, the proposed research environment utilizes the Swedish population register data for creating large-scale, population-wide networks that integrate multiple social contexts (i.e. multiplex networks).

We will study their properties, how they evolve, and the consequences they have for various social outcomes.

This environment is the first in Sweden, and among the first internationally, to create and study longitudinal, multiplex, full-population networks extracted from administrative register data. It will contribute to the international research front in multiple ways. Methodologically, it will develop novel approaches for constructing, measuring, and analyzing full-population networks.

Substantively, it will provide novel insights into how interwoven and segregated societies are, how influence flows between domains to affect individuals’ outcomes, and how individuals’ networks develop from adolescence into adulthood.