Abstract Multigraphs are graphs where multiple edges and edge loops are permitted. The main purpose of this article is to show the versatility of a multigraph approach when analysing social networks. Multigraph data structures are described and it is exemplified how they naturally occur in many contexts but also how they can be constructed by different kinds of aggregation in graphs. Special attention is given to a random multigraph model based on independent edge assignments to sites of vertex pairs and some useful measures of the local and global structure under this model are presented. Further, it is shown how some general measures of simplicity and complexity of multigraphs are easily handled under the presented model.
{"title":"A Multigraph Approach to Social Network Analysis","authors":"T. Shafie","doi":"10.21307/JOSS-2019-011","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21307/JOSS-2019-011","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Multigraphs are graphs where multiple edges and edge loops are permitted. The main purpose of this article is to show the versatility of a multigraph approach when analysing social networks. Multigraph data structures are described and it is exemplified how they naturally occur in many contexts but also how they can be constructed by different kinds of aggregation in graphs. Special attention is given to a random multigraph model based on independent edge assignments to sites of vertex pairs and some useful measures of the local and global structure under this model are presented. Further, it is shown how some general measures of simplicity and complexity of multigraphs are easily handled under the presented model.","PeriodicalId":35236,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Social Structure","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2015-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67666117","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract Most studies concerned with empirical social networks are conducted on the level of individuals. The interaction of scientists is an especially popular research area, with the growing importance of international collaboration as a common sense result. To analyze patterns of cooperation across nations, this paper investigates the structure and evolution of cross-country co-authorships for the field of economics from 1985 to 2011. For a long time economic research has been strongly US centered, while influencing real-world politics all over the globe. We investigate the impact of the general trend of increasing international collaboration on the hegemonic structures in the “global department of economics.” A dynamic map of economic research is derived and reveals communities that are hierarchical and structured along the lines of external social forces, i.e. historical and political dimensions. Based on these findings, we discuss the influence of the core-periphery structure on the production of economic knowledge and the dissemination of new ideas.
{"title":"U.S. and Whom? Structures and Communities of International Economic Research","authors":"R. Heiberger, Jan Riebling","doi":"10.21307/JOSS-2019-019","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21307/JOSS-2019-019","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Most studies concerned with empirical social networks are conducted on the level of individuals. The interaction of scientists is an especially popular research area, with the growing importance of international collaboration as a common sense result. To analyze patterns of cooperation across nations, this paper investigates the structure and evolution of cross-country co-authorships for the field of economics from 1985 to 2011. For a long time economic research has been strongly US centered, while influencing real-world politics all over the globe. We investigate the impact of the general trend of increasing international collaboration on the hegemonic structures in the “global department of economics.” A dynamic map of economic research is derived and reveals communities that are hierarchical and structured along the lines of external social forces, i.e. historical and political dimensions. Based on these findings, we discuss the influence of the core-periphery structure on the production of economic knowledge and the dissemination of new ideas.","PeriodicalId":35236,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Social Structure","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2015-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67666775","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract This study integrated efforts to identify influential people and to extend theories of structural predictors of compliance. Adults (N = 195) were shown a sociogram of 11 people who were connected by friendships. Participants were asked to imagine themselves in this group, identify a position for themselves, select another member for an interaction, and predict their likelihood of complying with the member’s request. Connectors (those wanting to link others) identified with more central positions for themselves and selected more central interaction partners. Agents with greater persuasive impact were more successful in gaining compliance from participants; for connectors, targets’ supportive impact also reduced their likelihood of compliance. Findings have implications for diffusion efforts that depend on interpersonal compliance, and for theories of social influence.
{"title":"Understanding the Influential People and Social Structures Shaping Compliance","authors":"Rachel A. Smith, E. Fink","doi":"10.21307/JOSS-2019-014","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21307/JOSS-2019-014","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This study integrated efforts to identify influential people and to extend theories of structural predictors of compliance. Adults (N = 195) were shown a sociogram of 11 people who were connected by friendships. Participants were asked to imagine themselves in this group, identify a position for themselves, select another member for an interaction, and predict their likelihood of complying with the member’s request. Connectors (those wanting to link others) identified with more central positions for themselves and selected more central interaction partners. Agents with greater persuasive impact were more successful in gaining compliance from participants; for connectors, targets’ supportive impact also reduced their likelihood of compliance. Findings have implications for diffusion efforts that depend on interpersonal compliance, and for theories of social influence.","PeriodicalId":35236,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Social Structure","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2015-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67666657","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract In coercive relations, threats of negative sanctions extract valued positive sanctions from coercees. Only when coercion is direct, however, are the negative sanctions controlled by the coercer who benefits from the threats. Not previously investigated, indirect coercion relies on threats and negative sanctions that are external to the exploitative relation. We suggest that indirect coercion is ubiquitous. From their inception states have used the threat of external enemies to justify rulers’ increased powers and to provide a patina of legitimacy while, on a smaller scale, criminal organizations such as the mafia have long profited from offering protection. The purpose of this paper is to theoretically model and experimentally investigate indirect coercion and compare its effectiveness in extracting valued resources to that of direct coercion. Previous research has shown that all power structures, whether exchange, conflict or coercive, take two distinct forms, strong and weak. Therefore, experiments on strong and weak indirect coercion are run and are compared to new and previous experiments on strong and weak direct coercion. Theoretically grounded predictions are derived and tested for those structures.
{"title":"External Threat as Coercion","authors":"Pamela Emanuelson, David Willer","doi":"10.21307/JOSS-2019-016","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21307/JOSS-2019-016","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract In coercive relations, threats of negative sanctions extract valued positive sanctions from coercees. Only when coercion is direct, however, are the negative sanctions controlled by the coercer who benefits from the threats. Not previously investigated, indirect coercion relies on threats and negative sanctions that are external to the exploitative relation. We suggest that indirect coercion is ubiquitous. From their inception states have used the threat of external enemies to justify rulers’ increased powers and to provide a patina of legitimacy while, on a smaller scale, criminal organizations such as the mafia have long profited from offering protection. The purpose of this paper is to theoretically model and experimentally investigate indirect coercion and compare its effectiveness in extracting valued resources to that of direct coercion. Previous research has shown that all power structures, whether exchange, conflict or coercive, take two distinct forms, strong and weak. Therefore, experiments on strong and weak indirect coercion are run and are compared to new and previous experiments on strong and weak direct coercion. Theoretically grounded predictions are derived and tested for those structures.","PeriodicalId":35236,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Social Structure","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2015-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67666711","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract How has the passage of time impacted the ego networks of males and females? I compare the homophily and social distances of males and females using the 1985 and 2004 GSS networks modules. The results indicate that change has been gradual and incremental rather than radical. In 2004 less social distance separates associates for women than for men, and males differentiate more among levels of education. The results suggest that macro-level structural changes have not been sufficient to produce similarly large changes in ego network composition.
{"title":"A Longitudinal Analysis of Gendered Association Patterns: Homophily and Social Distance in the General Social Survey","authors":"Matthew E. Brashears","doi":"10.21307/JOSS-2019-013","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21307/JOSS-2019-013","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract How has the passage of time impacted the ego networks of males and females? I compare the homophily and social distances of males and females using the 1985 and 2004 GSS networks modules. The results indicate that change has been gradual and incremental rather than radical. In 2004 less social distance separates associates for women than for men, and males differentiate more among levels of education. The results suggest that macro-level structural changes have not been sufficient to produce similarly large changes in ego network composition.","PeriodicalId":35236,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Social Structure","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2015-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67666648","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract Selecting an appropriate method of clustering for network data a priori can be a frustrating and confusing process. To address the problem we build on an a posteriori approach developed by Grimmer and King (2011) that compares hundreds of possible clustering methods at once through concise and intuitive visualization. We adapt this general method to the context of social networks, extend it with additional visualization features designed to enhance interpretability, and describe its principled use, outlining steps for selecting a class of methods to compare, interpreting visual output, and making a final selection. The interactive method, implemented in R, is demonstrated using Zachary’s karate club, a canonical dataset from the network literature.
{"title":"Choosing a Clustering: An A Posteriori Method for Social Networks","authors":"Samuel D. Pimentel","doi":"10.21307/JOSS-2019-022","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21307/JOSS-2019-022","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Selecting an appropriate method of clustering for network data a priori can be a frustrating and confusing process. To address the problem we build on an a posteriori approach developed by Grimmer and King (2011) that compares hundreds of possible clustering methods at once through concise and intuitive visualization. We adapt this general method to the context of social networks, extend it with additional visualization features designed to enhance interpretability, and describe its principled use, outlining steps for selecting a class of methods to compare, interpreting visual output, and making a final selection. The interactive method, implemented in R, is demonstrated using Zachary’s karate club, a canonical dataset from the network literature.","PeriodicalId":35236,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Social Structure","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2014-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67666833","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Network analysis has become a popular tool to examine data from online social networks to politics to ecological systems. As more computing power has become available, new technology-driven methods and tools are being developed that can support larger and richer network data, including dynamic network analysis. This timely merger of abundant data and cutting edge techniques affords researchers the ability to better understand networks over time, accurately show how they evolve, find patterns of growth, or study models such as the diffusion of innovation. We combine traditional methods in social network analysis with new innovative visualizations and methods in dynamic network studies to explore an online tobacco-control community called GLOBALink, using almost twenty years of longitudinal data. We describe the methods used for the study, and perform an exploratory network study that links empirical results to real-world events.
{"title":"Using Visualizations to Explore Network Dynamics.","authors":"Kar-Hai Chu, Heather Wipfli, Thomas W Valente","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Network analysis has become a popular tool to examine data from online social networks to politics to ecological systems. As more computing power has become available, new technology-driven methods and tools are being developed that can support larger and richer network data, including dynamic network analysis. This timely merger of abundant data and cutting edge techniques affords researchers the ability to better understand networks over time, accurately show how they evolve, find patterns of growth, or study models such as the diffusion of innovation. We combine traditional methods in social network analysis with new innovative visualizations and methods in dynamic network studies to explore an online tobacco-control community called GLOBALink, using almost twenty years of longitudinal data. We describe the methods used for the study, and perform an exploratory network study that links empirical results to real-world events.</p>","PeriodicalId":35236,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Social Structure","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2013-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4184104/pdf/nihms566862.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"32722289","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract Often objects are to be ranked. However, there is no measurable quantity available to express the ranking aim and to quantify it. The consequence is that indicators are selected, serving as proxies for the ranking aim. Although this set of indicators is of great importance for its own right, the most commonly used practice to obtain a ranking is an aggregation method. Any aggregation, however suffers from the effect of compensation, because the aggregation technique is in the broadest sense an averaging method. Here an alternative is suggested which avoids this averaging and which is derived from simple elements of the theory of partially ordered sets (posets). The central concept in partial order is the ‘concept of comparison’ and the most general outcome is a web of relations between objects according to their indicator values, respecting the ranking aim. As an example the ‘Failed State Index’ (FSI), annually prepared by the Fund of Peace is selected. The FSI is based on twelve individual contextual different indicators, subsequently transformed into a single composite indicator, by simple addition of the single indicator values. Such an operation leaves space for compensation effects, where one or more indicators level out the effect of others. Hence, a comparison between the single states (in total 177) based on their mutual FSI ranking has its limitations as the comparisons are made based on the composite indicator. We show that brain drain is one of the indicators in the FSI-study that plays a crucial role in the ranking, whereby the ranking aim is the stabilization of nations.
{"title":"An Analysis of the ‘Failed States Index’ by Partial Order Methodology","authors":"L. Carlsen, R. Brüggemann","doi":"10.21307/JOSS-2019-025","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21307/JOSS-2019-025","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Often objects are to be ranked. However, there is no measurable quantity available to express the ranking aim and to quantify it. The consequence is that indicators are selected, serving as proxies for the ranking aim. Although this set of indicators is of great importance for its own right, the most commonly used practice to obtain a ranking is an aggregation method. Any aggregation, however suffers from the effect of compensation, because the aggregation technique is in the broadest sense an averaging method. Here an alternative is suggested which avoids this averaging and which is derived from simple elements of the theory of partially ordered sets (posets). The central concept in partial order is the ‘concept of comparison’ and the most general outcome is a web of relations between objects according to their indicator values, respecting the ranking aim. As an example the ‘Failed State Index’ (FSI), annually prepared by the Fund of Peace is selected. The FSI is based on twelve individual contextual different indicators, subsequently transformed into a single composite indicator, by simple addition of the single indicator values. Such an operation leaves space for compensation effects, where one or more indicators level out the effect of others. Hence, a comparison between the single states (in total 177) based on their mutual FSI ranking has its limitations as the comparisons are made based on the composite indicator. We show that brain drain is one of the indicators in the FSI-study that plays a crucial role in the ranking, whereby the ranking aim is the stabilization of nations.","PeriodicalId":35236,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Social Structure","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2013-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67666608","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract Network analysis has become a popular tool to examine data from online social networks to politics to ecological systems. As more computing power has become available, new technology-driven methods and tools are being developed that can support larger and richer network data, including dynamic network analysis. This timely merger of abundant data and cutting edge techniques affords researchers the ability to better understand networks over time, accurately show how they evolve, find patterns of growth, or study models such as the diffusion of innovation. We combine traditional methods in social network analysis with new innovative visualizations and methods in dynamic network studies to explore an online tobacco-control community called GLOBALink, using almost twenty years of longitudinal data. We describe the methods used for the study, and perform an exploratory network study that links empirical results to real-world events.
{"title":"Using Visualizations to Explore Network Dynamics","authors":"Kar-Hai Chu, H. Wipfli, T. Valente","doi":"10.21307/JOSS-2019-026","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21307/JOSS-2019-026","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Network analysis has become a popular tool to examine data from online social networks to politics to ecological systems. As more computing power has become available, new technology-driven methods and tools are being developed that can support larger and richer network data, including dynamic network analysis. This timely merger of abundant data and cutting edge techniques affords researchers the ability to better understand networks over time, accurately show how they evolve, find patterns of growth, or study models such as the diffusion of innovation. We combine traditional methods in social network analysis with new innovative visualizations and methods in dynamic network studies to explore an online tobacco-control community called GLOBALink, using almost twenty years of longitudinal data. We describe the methods used for the study, and perform an exploratory network study that links empirical results to real-world events.","PeriodicalId":35236,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Social Structure","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2013-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67666693","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract An affiliation network consists of actors and events. Actors are affiliated with each other by virtue of the events they mutually attend. This article introduces a family of affiliation measures that captures the extent of actors’ affiliations in the network. At one extreme, one might have an actor who attended many events, but none of these events were attended by any of the other actors in the network. Although of high degree, in no reasonable interpretation would such an actor be considered highly affiliated with other actors in the network. At the other extreme, one might have an actor defined by a collection of events, all of which were attended by another actor(s), making the actor as enmeshed in the network as possible. Most actors will be between these extremes, with some events being shared by varying others, and some not. This article introduces a family of affiliation measures based on the entries of the co-occurrence matrix. After defining the measures, the cumulative distribution function of first-order affiliation is derived and expressed as a difference of binomials.
{"title":"A Family of Affiliation Indices for Two-Mode Networks*","authors":"Frank Tutzauer","doi":"10.21307/JOSS-2019-024","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21307/JOSS-2019-024","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract An affiliation network consists of actors and events. Actors are affiliated with each other by virtue of the events they mutually attend. This article introduces a family of affiliation measures that captures the extent of actors’ affiliations in the network. At one extreme, one might have an actor who attended many events, but none of these events were attended by any of the other actors in the network. Although of high degree, in no reasonable interpretation would such an actor be considered highly affiliated with other actors in the network. At the other extreme, one might have an actor defined by a collection of events, all of which were attended by another actor(s), making the actor as enmeshed in the network as possible. Most actors will be between these extremes, with some events being shared by varying others, and some not. This article introduces a family of affiliation measures based on the entries of the co-occurrence matrix. After defining the measures, the cumulative distribution function of first-order affiliation is derived and expressed as a difference of binomials.","PeriodicalId":35236,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Social Structure","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2013-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67667012","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}