Network Analysis by Barry Wellman

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Network Analysisby Barry Wellman
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(No Transcript)
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Three Ways to Look at Reality

• Categories
• All Possess One or More Properties as an
  Aggregate of Individuals
• Examples Men, Developed Countries
• Groups
• (Almost) All Densely-Knit Within Tight Boundary
• Thought of as a Solitary Unit (Really a Special
  Network)
• Family, Workgroup, Community
• Networks
• Set of Connected Units People, Organizations,
  Networks
• Can Belong to Multiple Networks
• Examples Friendship, Organizational, Inter-,
  World-System, Internet

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Nodes, Relationships Ties

• Nodes A Unit That Possibly is Connected
• Individuals, Households, Groups, Organizations,
  States
• Relationships (A Specific Type of Connection)
• Gives Emotional Support
• Sends Money To
• Attacks
• Ties (One or More Relationships)
• Friendship (with possibly many relationships)

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A Network is More Than The Sum of Its Ties

• A Network Consists of One or More Nodes
• Could be Persons, Organizations, Groups, Nations
• Connected by One or More Ties
• Could be One or More Relationships
• That Form Distinct, Analyzable Patterns
• Can Study Patterns of Relationships OR Ties

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Overview - Journals

• Wellman founded, Connections, 1977
• Informal journal Useful articles, news,
  gossip, grants, abstracts, book summaries
• Bill Richards, Tom Valente edit now
• Lin Freeman founded, Social Networks, 1978
• Formal journal Refereed articles
• Ronald Breiger now co-editor
• David Krackhardt founded, J of Social Structure,
  2000
• Online, Refereed
• Lots of visuals
• Articles Appear Occasionally when their time has
  come

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Overview Key Books

• Elizabeth Bott, Family Social Network, 1957
• J. Clyde Mitchell, Networks, Norms
  Institutions, 1973
• Holland Leinhardt, Perspectives on Social
  Network Research,1979
• S. D. Berkowitz, An Introduction to Structural
  Analysis, 1982
• Knoke Kuklinski, Network Analysis, 1983
• Charles Tilly, Big Structures, Large Processes,
  Huge Comparisons, 1984
• David Knoke, Political Networks, 1990
• John Scott, Social Network Analysis, 1991
• Ron Burt, Structural Holes, 1992
• Manuel Castells, The Rise of Network Society,
  1996, 2000
• Wasserman Faust, Social Network Analysis, 1992
• Nan Lin, Social Capital (monograph reader),
  2001
• Monge Contractor, Theories of Communication
  Networks, 2003

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Overview Software

• UCINet Whole Network Analysis
• MultiNet Whole Network Analysis
• PStar Dyadic Analysis
• Krackplot Network Visualization
• Pajek Network Visualization
• Personal Network Analysis
• SPSS/SAS See Wellman, et al. How To papers

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The Social Network Approach

• The world is composed of networks - not
  densely-knit, tightly-bounded groups
• Networks provide flexible means of social
  organization and of thinking about social
  organization
• Networks have emergent properties of structure
  and composition
• Networks are a major source of social capital
  mobilizable in themselves and from their contents
• Networks are self-shaping and reflexive
• Networks scale up to networks of networks

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Networked Individualism

• Moving from a society bound up in little boxes to
  a multiple network and networking society
• Networks are a flexible means of social
  organization
• Networks are a major source of social capital
  mobilizable in themselves from their contents
• Networks link
• Persons
• Within organizations
• Between organizations and institutions

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Little Boxes
Glocalization
Networked Individualism
Barry Wellman co-editor Social Structure A
Network ApproachJAI-Elsevier Press 1998
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Ways of Looking at Networks

• Whole Networks Personal Networks
• Focus on the System or on the Set of Individuals
• Graphs Matrices
• We dream in graphs
• We analyze in matrices

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Whole Social Networks

• Comprehensive Set of Role Relationships in a Full
  System
• Analyze Each Role Relationship Can Combine
• Composition Women Heterogeneity Weak Ties
• Structure Pattern of Ties
• Village, Organization, Kinship, Enclaves,
  World-System
• Typical Methods Cliques, Blocks, Centrality,
  Flows
• (1) What is the Real Structure of an
  Organization?
• (2) How Does Information Flow Through a Village?

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Duality of Persons Groups

• People Link Groups
• Groups Link People
• An Interpersonal Net is an Interorganizational
  Net
• Ronald Breiger 1973

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The Dualities of Persons and Groups -- Graphs
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Dualities of Persons and Groups -- Matrices
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Dualities of Persons and Groups Event-Event
Matrix
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Neat Whole Network Methods

• QAP
• Regression of Matrices
• Example Co-Citation (Intellectual Tie)
• Predicts Better than Friendship (Social Tie)
• To Inter-Citation
• Clustering High Density Tight Boundaries
  (Groups)
• Block Modeling
• Similar Role Relationships, Not Necessarily
  Clusters
• Canada Mexico in Same Block US Dominated

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Erickson, 1988 From a Matrix gt . . .
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. . . To a Block Model
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Costs of Whole Network Analysis

• Requires a Roster of Entire Population
• Requires (Imposition of) a Social Boundary
• This May Assume What You Want to Find
• Hard to Handle Missing Data
• Needs Special Analytic Packages
• Becoming Easier to Use

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Personal Social Networks

• Ptolemaic Ego-Centered View
• Good for Unbounded Networks
• Often Uses Survey Research
• Example
• (1) Do Densely-Knit Networks Provide More
  Support? (structure)
• (2) Do More Central People Get More
  Support?(network)
• (2) Do Women Provide More Support? (composition)
• (3) Do Face-to-Face Ties Provide More Support
  Than Internet Ties? (relational)
• (4) Are People More Isolated Now? (ego)