Formation of Social Network Structure

Abstract

It is not always recognized that an exponential random graph model (ERGM) carries theory in the form of assumptions about networks, network processes, and social structures. We can think of “ERGM theory” as network metatheory because it is not specific to a particular network process. It is a theoretical perspective within which more specific network theories may be investigated. The essence of ERGM theory is the formation of social structure through the accumulation of small local substructures and, ultimately, through the formation of individual ties into the patterns of those substructures.