Social Networks
Networks are mechanisms or tools through which we analyze the relationships in social systems among entities that make up the system, which we call actors or nodes. Relationships among actors/nodes can be of various kinds, and each type can give rise to a corresponding network.. Node’s or actor’s position in a social network in conjunction with type of relationship determines in part the constraints and opportunities that it faces, therefore identifying the that position is important to for predicting the actor’s outcomes such as behavior, performance, or beliefs.
For example, in a social network such as Facebook nodes are individuals, in a cellular network nodes could be towers (communication) or cells (biological). Network analysis can happen at three levels:
- Dyad level: pairwise relations between actors - `do pair of actors with business ties tend to develop affective ties?’
- Node level: characteristics of nodes - `do actors with more friends tend to have stronger immune system?’
- Network level: studying network as a whole - `do well connected networks tend to diffuse ideas faster?’
Graphs are mathematical construct to conceptualize networks. A graph \(G(V,E)\) consists of a set of vertices \(V\) (also called nodes or points) and a set of edges \(E\) (or links or lines). The edges connect pair of vertices. When two vertices are connected by an edge, we say they are adjacent and hence has ‘a tie’. The number of edges incident on a node is called the `degree’ of that node.
How social networks form is a topic of intense research across various fields. In social sciences researchers have obsrved that there is tendency of people to have similar friends is most pervasive feature of social networks. This tendency of individuals to bond with similar others is termed as homophily.
Chapter 6 Social Networks
Networks are mechanisms or tools through which we analyze the relationships in social systems among entities that make up the system, which we call actors or nodes. Relationships among actors/nodes can be of various kinds, and each type can give rise to a corresponding network.. Node’s or actor’s position in a social network in conjunction with type of relationship determines in part the constraints and opportunities that it faces, therefore identifying the that position is important to for predicting the actor’s outcomes such as behavior, performance, or beliefs.
For example, in a social network such as Facebook nodes are individuals, in a cellular network nodes could be towers (communication) or cells (biological). Network analysis can happen at three levels:
Graphs are mathematical construct to conceptualize networks. A graph \(G(V,E)\) consists of a set of vertices \(V\) (also called nodes or points) and a set of edges \(E\) (or links or lines). The edges connect pair of vertices. When two vertices are connected by an edge, we say they are adjacent and hence has ‘a tie’. The number of edges incident on a node is called the `degree’ of that node.
How social networks form is a topic of intense research across various fields. In social sciences researchers have obsrved that there is tendency of people to have similar friends is most pervasive feature of social networks. This tendency of individuals to bond with similar others is termed as homophily.