ANR-Lab member wins Student Research Paper Competition

On February 11, the awards ceremony for the 2025 Student Research Paper Competition took place. ANR-Lab research assistant Polina Ermolaeva took second place in the category "Best Research Paper in Sociology for Master's Students and Graduates of the Class of 2025."

In her study, "Network Dynamics and Adolescent Risk Behavior: The Case of Russian Vocational Schools" (supervised by V.A. Ivanyushina), Polina examined how friendship networks in Russian vocational schools influence adolescent risk behavior. Using advanced statistical methods (RSiena), she analyzed data from 23 study groups collected over three waves of the study. This allowed her to separate two key mechanisms: the selection effect (the tendency to befriend similar individuals) and the influence effect (the adoption of friends' behavior). The results showed that alcohol consumption is determined by both mechanisms, smoking by selection alone, and sexual activity by friend influence.

Congratulations to Polina and we wish her success in her research!