Social Identity Mapping (SIM)
We are learning all the time about just how important being socially connected is to health and well-being and particularly our belonging to social groups (family, friendship, work, support, interest and other groups). But how can we access and measure group connectedness and use this to improve a person's sense of connection to others?
The SIGN team has developed a tool to do just that. Social Identity Mapping (SIM) delivers a bespoke, in-depth analysis of a person’s social group connections and identities that we develop around them. The tool allows users to visualise their connections in ways that help them understand what and where these connections are, how they feel about them, and how they contribute (both positively and negatively) to their lives.
Social Identity Mapping (SIM) can be done with paper or online, and both deliveries have been psychometrically validated. In its digital or paper-based format, SIM provides a way of measuring key dimensions of connectedness:
- Quantity of connections
Online Social Identity Mapping (oSIM) - Quality of connections
- Compatibility of connections
- Changes in connections over time
The power of Social Identity Mapping lies at the heart of many of SIGN's flagship products: GROUPS 4 HEALTH, GROUPS 4 EDUCATION, GROUPS 2 CONNECT, and the 5R Leadership Program.
Online Social Identity Mapping (oSIM)
Online Social Identity Mapping (oSIM) has recently been redeveloped to provide a more powerful lens through which to understand the interconnected nature of groups and how these interact to shape social health. The new oSIM tool provides a flexible and scalable digital solution that can be used for research (whether experimental, survey based, or within an intervention), and by practitioners in clinical, educational, and organisational settings. In very practical terms, oSIM helps us to understand the wider social contexts that affect people's feelings, motivations and behaviour. oSIM is now available as a licensed online web platform.
Features of oSIM include:
- An ability to design bespoke studies to target specific research questions
- A visual output of a person's social group connections which captures the number, importance, quality and compatibility of the groups in their lives
- Access to all data outputs live, including map visualisations
- The capacity to generate individual as well as grouped data output, including averaged descriptive data
- The capability to run longitudinal mapping to capture changes over time
- Easy integration within a range of online platforms, including survey software such as Qualtrics
- Modular functionality with which to integrate oSIM into interventions
Please view the video below for a full breakdown of the features and benefits of the oSIM tool presented by CSIRO Research Scientist Dr Sarah Bentley.