Network stability in longitudinal data: A case study from rural Malawi

This paper investigates the stability of egocentric informal conversational networks in rural Malawi by analyzing reinterview data collected by a longitudinal survey. Contrary to the findings of test-retest studies carried out in developed countries, in rural Malawi geographically and socially close networks are found to exhibit a low level of stability even over short periods of time. This is mainly attributed to the specific structure of the networks considered, and it is therefore recommended that the importance of measurement bias should not be overemphasized. It is also found that, despite the significant changes in the named partners, network size and reported actions of network partners are quite stable, thus suggesting a negligible impact of network instability for further analyses of these data.