Diffusion on social networks: Survey data from rural villages in central China

Hang Xiong; Puqing Wang; Yueji Zhu

doi:10.1016/j.dib.2016.02.081

Diffusion on social networks: Survey data from rural villages in central China

Data Brief. 2016 Mar 9:7:546-50. doi: 10.1016/j.dib.2016.02.081. eCollection 2016 Jun.

Authors

Hang Xiong¹, Puqing Wang², Yueji Zhu³

Affiliations

¹ Geary Institute for Public Policy and School of Sociology, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.
² College of Economics and Management, Wuhan Polytechnic University, Wuhan, China.
³ School of Economics and Management, Hainan University, Haikou, China.

Abstract

Empirical studies on social diffusions are often restricted by the access to data of diffusion and social relations on the same objects. We present a set of first-hand data that we collected in ten rural villages in central China through household surveys. The dataset contains detailed and comprehensive data of the diffusion of an innovation, the major social relationships and the household level demographic characteristics in these villages. The data have been used to study peer effects in social diffusion using simulation models, "Peer Effects and Social Network: The Case of Rural Diffusion in Central China" [1]. They can also be used to estimate spatial econometric models. Data are supplied with this article.

Keywords: Diffusion; High-value crop; Household survey; Rural China; Social networks.