A Non-Technical Introduction to Social Network Analysis Barry Wellman

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Systems For Newbies A Non-Technical Introduction to Social Network Analysis Barry Wellman Founder, International Network For Social Network Analysis Center for Urban & Community Studies University of Toronto, Canada M5S 1A1 wellman@chass.utoronto.ca www.chass.utoronto.ca/~wellman

NetLab

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 Solidary 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-Organizational, World-System, Internet

Nodes, Relationships & Ties Nodes: A Unit That Possibly is Connected Individuals, Households, Workgroups,Organizations, States Relationships (A Specific Type of Connection) A "Part Relationship" Gives Emotional Support Sends Money To Attacks Ties (One or More Relationships) Friendship (with potentially numerous connections) Affiliations ( Person – Organization) Works for IBM; INSNA Member; Football Team One-Mode, Two-Mode Networks

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 Emergent Properties (Simmel versus Homans)

In a Sentence – " To Discover How A, Who is in Touch with B and C, Is Affected by the Relation Between B & C" John Barnes

2 Minute History of Sunbelt Conference Informal gatherings in mid-late 1970s Toronto (1974); Hawaii Formalized as Sunbelt 1981 – yearly Why "Sunbelt"? Typical Rotation: SE US, US West, Europe Slovenia (2004); Charleston (Feb 2005), Vancouver? Continuously Informal, But Serious Work

10 Minute History of INSNA Founded by Barry Wellman in 1976-1977 Sabbatical Travel Carried Tales Nick Mullins: Every "Hypothesis Group" Has an Organizational Leader Owned by Wellman until 1988 as independent company Subsequent Coordinators/Presidents Al Wolfe, Steve Borgatti, Martin Everett Steering Committee Non-Profit Constitution under Borgatti; Coordinator > President Bill Richards President, 2003-Scott Feld VP; Katie Faust Treasurer; Frans Stokman, Euro. Rep. Our First Real Election Grown from 175 to 400 Members Many More on Listserv (Not Limited to Members) Steve Borgatti keeps up; unmoderated Website: www.insna.sfu.ca - being updated

10 Minute Overview - Journals Wellman founded,edited,published Connections, 1977 Informal diary: "Valuable" articles, news, talk, gifts, abstracts, book rundowns Bill Richards, Tom Valente alter now Lin Freeman established, alters Social Networks, 1978? Formal diary: Refereed articles Ronald Breiger now co-manager David Krackhardt established, alters J of Social Structure, 2000? On the web, Refereed Lots of visuals Articles Appear Occasionally when their time has come

10 Minute Overview – Key Books Elizabeth Bott, Family & Social Network, 1957 J. Clyde Mitchell, Networks, Norms & Institutions, 1973 Holland & Leinhardt, Perspectives on Social Network Research, 1979s S. D. Berkowitz, An Introduction to Structural Analysis, 1982 Knoke & Kuklinski, Network Analysis, 1983, Sage, minimal effort Charles Tilly, Big Structures, Large Processes, Huge Comparisons, 1984 Wellman & Berkowitz, eds., Social Structures , 1988 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 & peruser), 2001

10 Minute Overview – Software UCINet – Whole Network Analysis Lin Freeman, Steve Borgatti, Martin Everett MultiNet – Whole Network Analysis + Nodal Characteristics Structure – Ron Burt – Not Maintained P*Star – Dyadic Analysis – Stan Wasserman Krackplot – Network Visualization (Obsolete) David Krackhardt, Jim Blythe Pajek – Network Visualization – Supersedes Krackplot Slovenia Personal Network Analysis SPSS/SAS – See Wellman, et al. "How To… " papers

10 Minute Overview – Data Basis Small Group "Sociometry" 1930s > (Moreno, Bonacich, Cook) Finding People Who Enjoy Working Together Evolved into Exchange Theory, Small Group Studies Ethnographic Studies, 1950s > (Mitchell, Barnes) Does Modernization > Disconnection? Overview Research: Personal Networks, 1970s > Community, Support & Social Capital, "Guanxi" Mathematics & Simulation, 1970s > (Freeman, White) Formalist/Methods & Substantive Analysis Survey & Archival Research, Whole Nets, 1970s > Organizational, Inter-Organizational, Inter-National Analyses Political Structures, 1970s > (Tilly, Wallerstein) Social Movements, Mobilization (hostile to Alienation) World Systems (awry structure > Globalization) Computer Networks as Social Networks, late 1990s > (Sack) Automated Data Collection

The Multiple Ways of Network Analysis Method – The Most Visible Manifestation Misleading to Confuse Appearance with Reality Data Gathering – see past slide Theory – Pattern Matters Substance Community, Organizational, Inter-Organizational, Terrorist, World System An Add-On: Add a Few Network Measures to a Study Integrated Approach A Way of Looking at the World: Theory, Data Collection, Data Analysis, Substantive Analysis Not Actor-Network Theory Links to Structural Analyses in Other Disciplines

The Social Network Approach The world is made out of systems -not thickly weave, firmly limited gatherings Networks give adaptable method for social association and of contemplating social association Networks have developing properties of structure and sythesis Networks are a noteworthy wellspring of social capital mobilizable in themselves and from their substance Networks are self-molding and reflexive Networks scale up to systems of systems

The Social Network Approach Moving from a progressive society bound up in little boxes to a system – and arrange ing – society Multiple people group/work systems Multiplicity of particular relations Management by systems More distance, greater mobility Loosely-coupled associations/social orders Less concentrated The arranged society

Changing Connectivity: Groups to Networks Densely Knit > Sparsely-Knit Impermeable (Bounded) > Permeable Broadly-Based Solidarity > Specialized Multiple Foci

Networked Individualism Moving from a general public bound up in little boxes to a various system – and organize ing – society Networks are an adaptable method for social association Networks are a noteworthy wellspring of social capital: mobilizable in themselves & from their substance Networks interface: Persons Within associations Between associations and establishments

Little Boxes  Ramified Networks **** Each in its Place  Mobility of People and Goods **** United Family  Serial Marriage, Mixed Custody Shared Community  Multiple, Partial Personal Nets Neighborhoods  Dispersed Networks Voluntary Organizations  Informal Leisure Face-to-Face  Computer-Mediated Communication Public Spaces  Private Spaces Focused Work Unit  Networked Organizations Job in a Company  Career in a Profession Autarky  Outsourcing Office, Factory  Airplane, Internet, Cellphone Ascription  Achievement Hierarchies  Matrix Management Conglomerates  Virtual Organizations/Alliances Cold War Blocs  Fluid, Transitory Alliances

Little Boxes Glocalization Networked Individualism Barry Wellman co-manager Social Structure: A Network Approach JAI-Elsevier Press 1998

Ways of Looking at Networks Whole Networks & Personal Networks Focus on the System or on the Set of Individuals Graphs & Matrices We dream in charts We examine in grids

Whole Social Networks Comprehensive Set of Role Relationships in an Entire Social System Analyze Each Role Relationship – Can Combine Composition: % Women; Heterogeneity; % Weak Ties Structure: Pattern of Ties Village, Organization, Kinship, Enclaves, World-System Copernican Airplane View Typical Methods: Cliques, Blocks, Centrality, Flows Examples: (1) What is the Real Structure of an Organization? (2) How Does Information Flow Through a Village?

Cumulative GlobeNet Intercitation Through 2000 Howard White & Barry Wellman, 2003 "Does Citation Reflect Social Structure"

Strongest Globenet Co-Citation, Intercitation Links Thru 2000

Duality of Persons & Groups People Link Groups Link People An Interpersonal Net is an Interorganizational Net Ronald Breiger 1973

The Dualities of Persons and Groups - Graphs

Dualities of Persons and Groups - Matrices

Dualities of Persons and Groups: Event-Event Matrix

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

Erickson, 1988: From a Matrix > . . .

. . . To a Block Model

Costs of Whole Network Analysis Requires a Roster of Entire Population Requires (I