The Quest for Entity Resolution

SMSU Event Center BC

Stopping gang violence is important for people living in communities suffering from entrenched gang conflict. Understanding how violence spreads through social networks, improves focused-deterrent tactics aimed at reducing conflict and improving public safety. Efforts to apply social network analysis (SNA) to violent conflict, however, are challenged by the difficulties associated with assembling relational information. The purpose of our research is to solve issues concerning entity resolution to generate more complete networks, specifically those representing gang violence. We demonstrate how a two-step sampling process, beginning with focal seed gangs and expanding with a search of secondary gangs found in connection with those in step one, can generate more information. This presentation provides an integrated approach for how the methodological limitations can be addressed.