Database and Data Collection
For this research, we created an original database of organizations engaged in Syria refugee education in Lebanon and their partnership arrangements. The purpose of the partnership database was three-fold:
- To compile a comprehensive list of the organizations and activities in the country and sector
- To conduct a network analysis that allows us to understand and analyze relationships between organizations
- To observe changes to the network structure over time, and in particular, following a period of acute political, economic, and health-related crises causing devastation to life and physical infrastructure
The data were collected in two phases and included a total of 440 unique organizations engaged in Syria refugee education in Lebanon.
Phase 1 of data collection took place from November 2018-February 2019, corresponding to the research period prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and included 357 organizations. Phase 2 of data collection took place two years later from November 2020-February 2021 and included 404 organizations, 83 of which were new additions. Between the two phases of data collection, several organizations left their partnerships and others joined or created new partnerships.
The Partnership Network, 2019 and 2020
The two visuals above show the connections between different organizations involved in Syria refugee education in Lebanon, the position of various organizations by type based on shape and color, the overall distribution of ties, and how closely connected the entities are to one another. Those organizations with the highest number of partnerships are densely clustered near the middle of the figure. Comparing the two sociograms shows that the network expanded to include more organizations and more partnerships between them. Additionally, the organizations and partnerships in Phase 2 are more densely clustered than in Phase 1, which shows greater centrality of more organizations, meaning more partnerships between more actors.
New Links in 2021
The visual above isolates the new links, showing a high number of new organizations, of all different types, engaging in Syria refugee education in 2021.
Technology Activities, 2019 and 2021
The types of activities in which the partnerships were engaged changed between the two Phases as well, most significantly relating to a rise in educational technology activities. The figure above shows a clear shift between Phase 1 and Phase 2, where several more partnership activities focused on educational technology, as can be seen through the red lines that denote ties between different types of many partners.
Global vs. Local Organizations
This figure displays the analysis conducted in Phase 2, highlighting in dark shapes all those organizations considered “global,” or headquartered outside of Lebanon, in contrast to the light shapes of national, Lebanese organizations. This visualization makes clear the dominance of global actors within a national context in terms of both number and connections to other organizations.
