Post on 02-Jan-2016
Diffusion
The process of dissemination, the spread of an idea or innovation from its hearth to other areas.
Barriers to diffusion
Physical barriers in nature: rivers, oceans, lakes, and mountain ranges.
Cultural religious beliefs. language
impedes the easy flow of ideas and fads from the United States and English-speaking Canada to French Canadians in Québec.
Political boundary can impede or slow down the dissemination of disease.
Economic factors people in certain places cannot afford to purchase a
new commodity or technological innovation.
Types of Diffusion
Expansion Diffusion – idea or innovation spreads outward from the hearth Contagious Hierarchical Stimulus
Relocation Diffusion- migrants bring an idea/innovation physically to a place
Worldwide, there are 1.4 billion followers of Islam There are
between 5 – 7 million Muslims in the United States
Diffusion of Islam
630 – 1600 AD
Hierarchical Diffusion- ideas/artifacts spread between larger places or social elite
later to smaller places or less prominent people
Fashion trends Cell phone use in the
early 1990s
Music and Clothing (hierarchical diffusion)
New clothing and music fads, for example,spread quickly among major world cities such as New York, Los Angeles,London, Paris, and Tokyo.
Only later do they filter down the urban hierarchy
Starbucks.. They're everywhere
Contagious Diffusion
All individuals and areas outward from the source region are affected
Term implies direct contact
Usually associated with disease
Distribution of West Nile Virus:
Humans, Birds, & Mosquitos, 2001
Diffusion of Africanized Bees after
their arrival to Brazil,
South America
Relocation Diffusion
Spread of culture through physical movement
Language, religion, food preferences
Can show spotty spatial distribution
Hmong Refugees from Laos
Spanish and Portuguese Colonies
Stimulus Diffusion (trans cultural)
Takes part of an idea to create an innovative product
Computer keyboards, Cherokee writing system, gang culture fashions, Siberian reindeer herding.
Summary
Diffusion: the process of dissemination, the spread of an idea or innovation from its hearth to other areas.
Relocation diffusion: The spread of idea by physical movement of people from one place to another. Ex: spread of language and culture from new migrants to America
Summary
Expansion Diffusion: Spread of idea from one place to another by snowballing. This can happen in three ways.
Hierarchal Diffusion: Spread of an idea from people (nodes) of authority or power to other persons or places(Ex: hip-hop/rap music)
Contagious Diffusion: Rapid and widespread diffusion of a characteristic throughout the population(Ex: ideas placed on the internet)
Stimulus diffusion: the spread of an underlying principle, even though a characteristic itself apparently fails to diffuse. (Ex: PC & Apple competition, p40) Characteristic throughout the population