Methods of Social Network Analysis

Regular session. Social network analysis is the application to social research of the concept of the network — a set of entities, or nodes, connected by relationships, or ties. Conceptualisation of social structures as social networks has been fruitful in many areas of the social sciences, and has, indeed, facilitated recognition of substantive patterns and analytic problems common to the social and other sciences. One of the most lively areas of social network analysis has been the development of suitable methods for applying the network concept in social research. These methods address the four main issues: sampling, measurement, data collection, and data analysis. In each of these areas, the problems faced by network researchers are considerably, though not entirely, different from those encountered by conventional attribute-based research. This session will provide a forum for presentation of new developments in research methods for social network analysis. These papers may be theoretical, concerning epistemological problems in the use of the concept of the social network; methodological, concerning technical developments in sampling, measurement, data collection, or data analysis; or empirical, demonstrating novel applications of social network analytic methods in actual research.