I am an Associate Professor in the Institute of Communication, Culture, Information, and Technology at the University of Toronto. I also hold graduate appointments in the Department of Sociology and the Faculty of Information.
My research focuses on the relationship between communication technology and personal networks. I am particularly interested in how communication technologies such as mobile phones and social media platforms are woven into personal networks. My research takes an international approach to this topic by examining and comparing personal networks and technology use in several countries, primarily Japan, the US, and Canada. I often incorporate digital trace data (so-called “Big Data”) into my project designs, merging it with more traditional survey and interview methods.
Information on my SSHRC funded E-Rhythms Project is available at: http://individual.utoronto.ca/jboase/e-rhythms.html
I received my Ph.D. from the Department of Sociology at the University of Toronto, during which time I spent a year at Harvard University while on a predoctoral fellowship at the National Center for Digital Government. After completing my Ph.D. I spent two years working as a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Social Psychology at The University of Tokyo.