Public Opinion Quarterly 36:361-366 (1972)
© 1972 American Association for Public Opinion Research

THE STRENGTH IN WEAK TIES

WILLIAM T. LIU, Professor of Sociology and ROBERT W. DUFF, Assistant Professor of Sociology

University of Notre Dame
University of Portland

Although communication may take place more easily among people who share similar attributes and have similar attitudes and beliefs, such communication may be in large measure redundant: no new informtion enters the system. For the diffusion of new information, the existence of some "heterophilous" relationships seems to be a structural prerequisite. The following article offers evidence bearing on this proposition.