Chapter 3 - Social Network Analysis: Measuring, Mapping, and Modeling Collections of Connections

Abstract

This chapter touches on the key historical developments, ideas, and concepts in social network analysis and applies them to social media network examples. Social network theory and analysis is a relatively recent set of ideas and methods largely developed over the past 80 years. It builds on and uses concepts from the mathematics of graph theory, which has a longer history. Using network analysis, one can visualize complex sets of relationships as maps (i.e., graphs or sociograms) of connected symbols and calculate precise measures of the size, shape, and density of the network as a whole and the positions of each element within it. Network analysts see the world as a collection of interconnected pieces. Those studying social networks see relationships as the building blocks of the social world, each set of relationships combining to create emergent patterns of connections among people, groups, and things. The focus of social network analysis is between, not within, people. Social media network data collection, scrubbing, analysis, and display tasks have historically required a remarkable collection of tools and skills. This book focuses on a single tool designed for nonprogrammers, NodeXL, because of its relative ease of use, support for rich visuals and analytics, and integration with the ubiquitous Excel spreadsheet software.