Research Proposal: Analyzing Gender and Social Interactions

This research proposal aims to quantify gender preferences in human social interactions using a large cell phone dataset. The study investigates the role of gender and age in shaping social arrangements by analyzing call detail records from over 2 million subscribers of a European mobile service provider. The research seeks to answer questions about the nature of interactions, age group patterns, gender engagement, and the impact of age and gender on interaction outcomes. The methodology involves an exploratory, quantitative approach with a focus on analyzing the relative probabilities of different caller-callee gender combinations. The research hypothesizes a correlation between longer telephonic conversations and emotional closeness, age-based interaction preferences, gender-based preferences, and the impact of age and gender on call patterns. The data analysis plan involves categorizing call records and calculating relative probabilities to explore the impact of age and gender on communication dynamics.

Running head: RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Research Proposal
Name of the Student:
University:
Author’s note:

1
RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Table of Contents
Title............................................................................................................................................2
Justification for the Research Topic...........................................................................................2
Research problem.......................................................................................................................3
Research questions.....................................................................................................................4
Hypotheses.................................................................................................................................4
Research plan.............................................................................................................................5
Methodology..........................................................................................................................5
Sampling................................................................................................................................5
Data collection.......................................................................................................................6
Data analysis plan..................................................................................................................6
References..................................................................................................................................7

2
RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Title
Quantifying gender preferences in human social interactions using a large cell phone dataset
Justification for the Research Topic
Social interaction is a process that indicates a series of human actions between
individuals. It is important in the context of research in social sciences for it facilitates social
structures and culture. Empirical study of social interaction can provide useful insights to
microsociology.
With the evolution of human society, the forms and process of social interaction have
changed over time. More importantly, the introduction and incorporation of technology in the
said process have brought out novel characteristics of the process. Therefore, it is worth
assessing the transformed social structures and tendencies to understand the structure of
human society in the context of contemporary culture and practices.
Existing literature in the field suggest that social interaction has a crucial role to play
in the psychological wellbeing of individuals as it provides support and fosters strong
relations. It is derived from the researches that a strong network of social support contributes
positively to both physical and mental health of the individuals. However, it is a common
belief that this requirement of a support system is directly proportionate to age. This is not the
case. Having a strong support system is necessary for individuals irrespective of age.
Ridgeway and Smith-Lovin (1996) indicate in their research that gender has an
important role to play in the process of social interaction. This aspect has a contextual impact
on the process. People tend to conceptualize and frame the pattern of the interaction based on
the mental image and relation of the person at the other end of the communication. The

3
RESEARCH PROPOSAL
authors remark that people tend to categorize the person they are interacting with based on
their gender and design the interaction accordingly. For example, interaction between two
females essentially differs from the interaction between two individuals of opposite gender.
Age too, has a similar impact on the interactions. To elucidate, the duration and effectiveness
of the interaction depend on who they are interacting with.Teenagers tend to avoid calls from
their parents or elders, whereas they prefer to engage with their peers over a longer period of
time (Zhao et al., 2016). Older people, on the other hand, are found to be generally inclined to
make long conversations.
Therefore, it has been found in many instances that age and gender is an important
aspect of social interaction (Harling et al., 2017). The current research will be a significant step
to quantify the phenomena of age and gender to provide a comprehensive insight regarding
their role in the social interaction.
Research problem
The study intends to answer the fundamental research question “What is the role of human
gender as well as age in the dynamics and structures of social arrangement?”
Research questions
The concern of this article is to find out how gender acts as a parameter in case of social
arrangements (Aledavood, 2015). The dependence on the age group of the individuals was to
be analyzed as well. Therefore, the study will try to answer the following research question:
1. What is nature of interactions that people generally have?
2. What is the pattern of age group that engages in social interactions?
3. What is the generalized pattern of gender that engages in such interactions more?

4
RESEARCH PROPOSAL
4. How do the factors of age and gender impact the outcome of these interactions?
Hypotheses
The study primarily contends that interactions that last over a longer period of time
can determine the impact factors of age and gender alone. Conversations for a limited time
span are irrelevant in this regard. However, to reach a scientific and agreeable conclusion, the
study will start with the following null hypotheses:
1. Longer telephonic conversations indicate the emotional closeness and bond between
the caller and the callee.
2. People belonging to older age group engage in conversations with individuals
younger to them, while young people tend to bond with their peers, belonging to the
same age group.
3. Gender preference in conversations often indicates that people mostly engage with
their partners from opposite gender.
4. The factors of age and gender determine the general pattern and nature of telephonic
conversations.
Research plan
The research will be an exploratory study of the issue in question, i.e. role of human gender
as well as age in the dynamics and structures of social arrangement.
Methodology
The study is an analytic and exploratory research. It will be conducted adopting a quantitative
research methodology.

5
RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Sampling
To avoid any internal research bias, the study will have to randomize the sample as much as
possible. The study will use a large number of call detail records ore CDRs. The datasets
includes the description of the age and gender of the caller-callee pairs expanding over a
large demographic area.
Data collection
The research aims to analyse the interactions of over 2 million subscribers of a particular
European mobile service provider. However, it has to screen multiple subscriptions belonging
to the same individual to filter errors (Blondel, Decuyper & Krings, 2015).
Data analysis plan
The call records will be categorized into distinct windows and thereby analysed considering
the emotional meaningfulness of the conversations. Then it wil calculate the relative
probabilities for the four possible types of caller to callee interaction.

6
RESEARCH PROPOSAL
References
Blondel, V. D., Decuyper, A., & Krings, G. (2015). A survey of results on mobile phone
datasets analysis. EPJ data science, 4(1), 10.
Harling, G., Morris, K., Manderson, L., Perkins, J., & Berkman, L. (2017). Age and gender
differences in social network composition and social support among older rural South
Africans: Findings from the HAALSI study. Available at SSRN 2977867.
Ridgeway, C., & Smith-Lovin, L. (1996). Gender and Social Interaction
[Introduction]. Social Psychology Quarterly, 59(3), 173-175. Retrieved from
http://www.jstor.org/stable/2787017
Zhao, Z., Shaw, S. L., Xu, Y., Lu, F., Chen, J., & Yin, L. (2016). Understanding the bias of
call detail records in human mobility research. International Journal of Geographical
Information Science, 30(9), 1738-1762.