Social Network Analysis
Social Network Analysis (SNA): Practice Module
By The Findings Group, LLC
Introduction
SNA is a methodology for studying social relations among a set of actors. SNA is the mapping and measuring of these relationships between people, groups, organizations, URLs, and other information/knowledge entities. The nodes in a network represent the people and groups while the edges and arrows depict the relationships or flows between the nodes.
One of the most useful outputs one can generate from a SNA is a sociogram. A sociogram illustrates the network and visually depicts the position of an individual within the network to further understand the analysis.
Additionally, SNA allows us to calculate graph metrics that provide quantitative measures that characterize various aspects of a graph. Here are some examples of the type of metrics that one can compute:
1. Degree- POPULARITY: count of the number of edges that are connected to a node (or vertex); indicates popularity.
a. In-degree: number of edges pointed toward the vertex (e.g., number of people that have invited the person to a party
b. Out-Degree- number of edges that the vertex points towards (e.g., number of people the person has invited to the party).
2. Betweeness Centrality- BRIDGE or CONNECTOR: quantitatively identifies individuals who act as a bridge to the rest of the group; sometimes perceived as a "bottleneck" because information flow depends on these individuals.
3. Closeness Centrality- WELL-CONNECTED: a lower closeness centrality score indicates a more central position in the network; individuals who are in a good position to spread information through the network efficiently.
4. Eigenvector Centrality- STATUS SEEKER: quantitatively identifies individuals who are connected to a popular individual as opposed to a loner.
5. Clustering Coefficient- CLIQUES: identifies clusters with a social network.
Getting Started:
NodeXL is a free, open source add-on to Excel and offers a user friendly template.
1. Download NodeXL package: http://nodexl.codeplex.com/
a. Also see tutorial manual: http://casci.umd.edu/images/4/46/NodeXL_tutorial_draft.pdf
2. Open NodeXL- Once opened, you will find five worksheets: Edges, Vertices, Groups, Group Vertices, and Overall Metrics
Dive in!: To try your hand at building a sociogram in SNA using NodeXL, please access the following practice module developed by The Findings Group, LLC:
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