A study on social network in Singapore

• Main Author: Wang, Hao
• Other Authors: Xiao Gaoxi
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2010
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Electrical and electronic engineering::Applications of electronics
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/40289
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Recent cases of human-to-human transmission of infectious diseases such as H1N1 and bird flu have taken the lives of many people. It is widely recognized that individuals’ social interactions and environments, their family, neighborhood, schools and workplaces, have a profound impact on their physical health in the time of pandemic. The larger the number of contacts an individual has, the higher the risk of getting infected and/or spreading the infection to their contacts. Therefore the attempt to characterize and study the interpersonal contact patterns of the social network in Singapore becomes important. Surveys were first conducted to gather the demographic and social behavioral data of the people living in Singapore. The participants were viewed in different age and genders groups to determine the possible trends, similarities and differences in the contact patterns. The analysis shows that the younger participants on average have higher number of contacts, including in transportation vehicles, in workplace/school, during meals. The similar results indicate students on average have higher number of contacts than working class. From the analysis it is also implied that participants come in contacts with more people in transportation vehicles on weekdays than on weekends probably due to more crowed public transportations. The findings on the gender influence shows that gender makes no significant differences in deciding the number of days people put off taking actions or the time frame people continue going to work/school after they have flu symptom. However, the number of people the female participants come in contact with in transportation vehicles and in workplace/school is higher than that of the male participants in the same age group and the difference is statistically significant.