Lesley Milroy

Social Network & Belfast Studies (1970s)

Criticism

External variables due to only investigating 3 working class communities - investigating MC and UC communities could have avoided this.

Lack of internal validity

Investigated correlation between individual's integration into their community with way they spoke

3 locations

The Hammer

Clonard

Ballymacarrell

Key Findings

Correlation between individual integration into community with the way those individuals spoke (exaggerated the cause of social class)

Men & women both use "non-standard" speech, increasing alongside social integration

Women tend to use less vernacular as their social ties tend to be weaker

Social Network

Background

British Sociolinguist

Clonard Anomaly

Women in Clonard used equal amounts (or more) of "non-standard" speech when compared to men

This is likely due to the anomalous amount of unemployment in this area

Women in Clonard are forced to band together, making a dense group

Women also have a heightened chance to conform, especially due to the pressured operating in Clonard

Social Class

Research revolved exclusively around "poor working class communities"

Not only researching the "social network theory" but also the effects of disconnection from the hub of British Standard English (London)

A high Network Strength Score correlated with use of vernacular or non-standard forms.

Structural identity of a particular community made a "web of ties"

Closed network - person whose personal contacts all know each other - high density

Open network - person whose contacts tend not to know each other - low density