EVERYTHING IS CONNECTED: AN APPROACH TO QUALITATIVE NETWORK RESEARCH. SOCIOLOGICAL REMARKS ON PERSPECTIVES, COMPLEXITIES, AND DIFFICULTIES

Abstract

Social Νetwork Αnalysis (SNA) is an important methodological approach but also a valuable instrument for research in social sciences and social issues, including Diversity, Social Capital, and the Trust Crisis. More precisely, a network consists of sets of nodes, ties, and sometimes attributes. Nodes refer to elements of the researcher's project and ties are based on the researcher's interests. In a network, the vital components are the connections and patterns. In the past, the scientific community merely associated social network analysis (SNA) with the quantitative methodological approach. However, this approach has begun to be revised in recent years because the quantitative approach can only solve specific cases that arise in society. On the contrary, qualitative SNA can generate and examine data on numerous social issues. The qualitative SNA is an in-depth approach focusing on the social subject and its connections with other social subjects, institutions, or organizations. This study highlights the importance of a qualitative SNA and offers a distinctive approach to qualitative SNA in the research field.  Article visualizations: