Social Network Analysis

Social network analysis is the study of how relationships between entities in a social structure influence behaviour and beliefs. It is evident that causal pressures are present in social structures. Social network analysis examines the entities of a network and the importance of their relationships within other entities they interact with. Analysing a social network involves mapping and measuring the magnitude of relationships and flows between nodes such as people, groups, organizations, computers, web sites, and other information or knowledge processing entities. It incorporates theories, models and applications that are expressed in terms of related processes and concepts, and are reliant on the accessibility of relational data, rather than attribute data. Social network analysis provides both a visual and a mathematical analysis of human relationships. Networks can be illustrated in the following forms:

Dyads: two actors/nodes and their ties

Triads: three actors/nodes and their ties




Larger systems: subgroups of individuals or entire networks.

Network analysis techniques have the aptitude to analyse and distinguish structural features in a network; such as the structure of communication in an organisation. It is vital to investigate the relationship properties between and within entities involved in a network, rather than the properties of the individual entities. Generally, network analysis is the focus of relationships between people rather than their individual characteristics. Such relationships may encompass emotions individuals share, the exchange of information, or possibly the exchange of tangible goods. When mapping out the relationships in a social network, we can gain a clearer understanding of the communication patterns involved in an organisation; whether it is an informal or a formal structure. The understanding of emerging patterns is beneficial in comprehending other organisational phenomena.

There are two basic types of network analysis that reflect two types of data: ego network analysis and complete network analysis. Ego network analysis can be undertaken through the exercise of traditional surveys. It typically involves assessing the quality of a network such as the size, diversity, average and income. Complete network analysis is the attempt of obtaining every relationship involved in the network; such as friendships between employees of a company. This is a vital technique in analysing subgroups and equivalence measures like centrality.

Social network analysis involves the study of an entity; its connection and relationship with the rest of the network.


References:

Ronald L. Breiger. (2004). The Analysis of Social Networks, Handbook of Data Analysis, pp.505-526, London: SAGE Publications

Universiteit Twente (2004), Network Theory and Analysis.
From http://www.cw.utwente.nl/theorieenoverzicht/Theory%20clusters/Communication%20and%20Information%20Technology/Network%20Theory%20and%20analysis_also_within_organizations.doc/_printableversion.html

Valdis Krebs (2008) , Social Network Analysis, A brief Introduction.
from http://www.orgnet.com/sna.html

Ulrike Gretzel (2001) , Social Network Analysis: Introduction and Resources
from http://lrs.ed.uiuc.edu/tse-portal/analysis/social-network-analysis/