Yuan Hsiao

I am an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Yale University. I received a PhD in Sociology and MS in Statistics from the University of Washington. I utilize the training from Sociology and Statistics to conduct multi-data and mixed-methods research. As a believer that complex social problems often require multiple sources of data, I combine “big” digital data, administrative records, survey experiments, and historical archives to glean insight into general social processes.

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My major research explores the areas of digital media, social networks,   collective behavior, and health. My research brings a network perspective to understanding questions pertinent to a variety of online and offline social processes. Examples include how networks on social media contribute to political mobilization, how gang members engage in online and offline conflict relationships, how personal relationships affect the spread of religion, or how community networks affect health behavior. Central to all these examples is societal change, such as the rise of social media, reshapes how people form network relationships, and in turn how such network relationships affect collective phenomena such as political mobilization.

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My work has appeared in American Sociological Review, Political Communication, Sociological Methods & Research, Social Networks, Social Forces, New Media & Society, Journal of Computational Social Science, Communication Research, among other outlets.