An Introduction to Social Network Analysis

OBJECTIVES:

• An introduction to the social network analysis perspective and some key social network concepts.

• An introduction to two social network software programs: UCINET (for network analysis) and KrackPlot (for drawing network graphs).

SOCIAL NETWORK CONCEPTS:

• points/nodes• lines/ties

• ego nets versus whole nets• valued/non-valued• positive/negative• graphs/matrices

• square versus rectangular matrices(adjacency versus incidence matrices)

• tie strength• density

• centrality(point centrality versus graph centrality)

(degree/betweeness/closeness)

A Matrix:

A B C DA 0 1 1 0B 1 0 1 0C 1 1 0 1D 0 0 1 0

A Graph:

AB

C

D

A Social Network

socnet01

A

B

C

D

E

FG

A

B

C

D E

F

G

A B C D E F GA 0 0 0 0 0 0 1B 0 0 0 0 0 0 1C 0 0 0 0 0 0 1D 0 0 0 0 0 0 1E 0 0 0 0 0 0 1F 0 0 0 0 0 0 1G 1 1 1 1 1 1 0

A B C D E F GA 0 1 0 0 0 0 1B 1 0 1 0 0 0 0C 0 1 0 1 0 0 0D 0 0 1 0 1 0 0E 0 0 0 1 0 1 0F 0 0 0 0 1 0 1G 1 0 0 0 0 1 0

SOCNET02 SOCNET03

CENTRALITY

DENSITY

D = ______2tN(N-1)

To calculate density in percentage terms: D x 100

SOCNET04 SOCNET05

D = ____2(5)

6(6-1)= __10

30= .33 D = ____2(10)

6(6-1)= __20

30= .67

A

B

C D

E

F

A

B

C D

E

F

SOCNET04 SOCNET05

A B C D E FA 0 0 0 0 0 1B 0 0 0 0 0 1C 0 0 0 1 0 1D 0 0 1 0 1 0E 0 0 0 1 0 0F 1 1 1 0 0 0

A B C D E FA 0 1 0 0 1 1B 1 0 1 0 0 1C 0 1 0 1 0 1D 0 0 1 0 1 1E 1 0 0 1 0 1F 1 1 1 1 1 0

Another Look at Centrality: Degree, Betweenness, and Closeness

a

b

c

d

e

SOCNET06

A B C D EA 0 1 0 0 0B 1 0 1 1 0C 0 1 0 1 0D 0 1 1 0 1E 0 0 0 1 0

Some Useful References on Social Network Methods and Perspectives

Berkowitz, S.D. 1982. An Introduction to Structural Analysis: The Network Approach to Social Research. Toronto: Butterworths.

Burt, Ronald. 1980. "Models of Network Structure." Annual Review of Sociology 6:79_141.

Erickson, Bonnie, T.A. Nosanchuk, and Edward Lee. 1981. "Network Sampling in Practice: Some Second Steps." Social Networks, 3:127_36.

Erickson, Bonnie, and T.A. Nosanchuk 1983. "Applied Network Sampling." Social Networks, 5(4):367_382.

Freeman, Linton C. 1978/79. “Centrality in Social Networks: Conceptual Clarification.” Social Networks 1:215-239.

Freeman, Linton C., Douglas R. White, and A. Kimball Romney (Eds.). 1989. Research Methods in Social Network Analysis. Fairfax, VA: George Mason University Press.

Granovetter, Mark. 1977. “Network Sampling. Some First Steps.” American Journal of Sociology, 81:1287-1303.

Knoke, David and James H. Kuklinski. 1982. Network Analysis. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications.

Kontopoulos, Kyriankos. 1993. The Logics of Social Structure. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Marsden, Peter. 1990. "Network Data and Measurement." Annual Review of Sociology 16:435_63.

Marsden, Peter V. and Nan Lin. 1982. Social Structure and Network Analysis. Beverly Hills: Sage Publications.

Pattison, Philippa. 1993. Algebraic Models for Social Networks. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Scott, John. 2000. Social Network Analysis: A Handbook. Second Edition. London: Sage Publications.

D.B. Tindall and Barry Wellman. 2001. "Canada as Social Structure: Social Network Analysis and Canadian Sociology." The Canadian Journal of Sociology, 26(3): 265-308.

Wasserman, Stanley and Joseph Galaskiewicz (Eds.). 1994. Advances in Social Network Analysis. Thousand Oaks, Calif: Sage Publications.

Wasserman, Stanley and Katherine Faust. 1994. Social Network Analysis: Methods and Applications. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Wellman, Barry and S.D. Berkowitz (Eds.). 1988. Social Structures: A Network Approach. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.