Social network analysis
John Scott
- 4th ed.
- Los Angeles : Sage, c2017.
- xiii, 227 p. : ill. ; 25 cm.
List of figures -- About the author -- Preface to the fourth edition -- What is social network analysis? The data used in social network analysis ; Is there a network theory? ; An overview -- The history of social network analysis. The sociogram and sociometry ; Balance and group dynamics ; Informal organisation and community relations ; Matrices and cliques ; Formal models of community and kinship ; Formal methods triumphant ; Getting by without the help of your friends ; Entry of the social physicists -- Data collection for social network analysis. Asking questions ; Making observations ; Using documents ; Boundaries in relational data ; Positional and reputational approaches ; Does sampling make sense? -- Organising and analysing network data. Matrices and relational data ; Matrix conventions ; An analysis of directorship data ; Direction and value in relational data ; Computer programs for social network analysis -- Terminology for network analysis. The language of network analysis ; More than joining up the lines ; The flow of information and resources ; Density of connections ; Density in egonets ; Problems in density measures ; A digression on absolute density ; Community structure and density -- Popularity, mediation and exclusion. Local and overall centrality ; Mediation and betweenness ; Centrality boosts centrality ; Centralisation and graph centres ; The absolute centre of a graph ; Bank centrality in corporate networks -- Groups, factions and social divisions. Identifying subgraphs ; The components of a network ; The strength and stability of components ; Cycles and circuits ; The contours of components ; Cliques within components ; Intersecting social circles ; Components and citation circles -- Strucutral locations, classes and positions. The structural equivalence of points ; Clusters and similarity ; Divide and CONCOR ; Divisions and equivalence ; Regular equivalence in roles and functions ; Corporate interlocks and participations -- Social change and development. Structural change and unintended consequences ; Small-world networks ; Modelling social change ; Testing explanations -- Visualising and modelling. Taking space seriously ; Using multi-dimensional scaling ; Principal components and factors ; Non-metric methods ; How many dimensions? ; Worth a thousand words? ; Elites, communities and influence ; Business elites and bank power -- Notes -- References -- Index.
Incorporating the most important and cutting-edge developments in the field, this bestselling text introduces newcomers to the key theories and techniques of social network analysis and guides more experienced analysts in their own research.