Network and Content Analysis in an Online Community Discourse

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to study interaction patterns among the members of a community of practice within the Dutch police organization and the way they share and construct knowledge together. The online discourse between 46 members, using First Class, formed the basis for this study. Social Network Analysis and content analysis were used to analyze the data. The results show that the interaction patterns between the members are rather centralized and that the network is relatively dense. Most of the members are involved within the discourse but person to person communication is still rather high. Content analysis revealed that discourse is focused on sharing and comparing information.