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Various theoretical frameworks have been imported for the use of social network analysis
The most prominent of these are Graph theory, Balance theory, Social comparison theory, and more recently, the Social identity approach.[46]
Few complete theories have been produced from social network analysis
Two that have are structural role theory and heterophily theory.
The basis of Heterophily Theory was the finding in one study that more numerous weak ties can be important in seeking information and innovation, as cliques have a tendency to have more homogeneous opinions as well as share many common traits
This homophilic tendency was the reason for the members of the cliques to be attracted together in the first place
However, being similar, each member of the clique would also know more or less what the other members knew
To find new information or insights, members of the clique will have to look beyond the clique to its other friends and acquaintances
This is what Granovetter called "the strength of weak ties".[47]
In the context of networks, social capital exists where people have an advantage because of their location in a network
Contacts in a network provide information, opportunities and perspectives that can be beneficial to the central player in the network
Most social structures tend to be characterized by dense clusters of strong connections.[48] Information within these clusters tends to be rather homogeneous and redundant
Non-redundant information is most often obtained through contacts in different clusters.[49] When two separate clusters possess non-redundant information, there is said to be a structural hole between them.[49] Thus, a network that bridges structural holes will provide network benefits that are in some degree additive, rather than overlapping
An ideal network structure has a vine and cluster structure, providing access to many different clusters and structural holes.[49]
Networks rich in structural holes are a form of social capital in that they offer information benefits
The main player in a network that bridges structural holes is able to access information from diverse sources and clusters.[49] For example, in business networks, this is beneficial to an individual's career because he is more likely to hear of job openings and opportunities if his network spans a wide range of contacts in different industries/sectors
This concept is similar to Mark Granovetter's theory of weak ties, which rests on the basis that having a broad range of contacts is most effective for job attainment
Structural holes have been widely applied in social network analysis, resulting in applications in a wide range of practical scenarios as well as machine learning-based social prediction.[50]
Research has used network analysis to examine networks created when artists are exhibited together in museum exhibition
Such networks have been shown to affect an artist's recognition in history and historical narratives, even when controlling for individual accomplishments of the artist.[51][52] Other work examines how network grouping of artists can affect an individual artist's auction performance.[53] An artist's status has been shown to increase when associated with higher status networks, though this association has diminishing returns over an artist's career.
In J.A
Barnes' day, a "community" referred to a specific geographic location and studies of community ties had to do with who talked, associated, traded, and attended church with whom
Today, however, there are extended "online" communities developed through telecommunications devices and social network services
Such devices and services require extensive and ongoing maintenance and analysis, often using network science methods
Community development studies, today, also make extensive use of such methods.
Complex networks require methods specific to modelling and interpreting social complexity and complex adaptive systems, including techniques of dynamic network analysis
Mechanisms such as Dual-phase evolution explain how temporal changes in connectivity contribute to the formation of structure in social networks.
The study of social networks is being used to examine the nature of interdependencies between actors and the ways in which these are related to outcomes of conflict and cooperation
Areas of study include cooperative behavior among participants in collective actions such as protests; promotion of peaceful behavior, social norms, and public goods within communities through networks of informal governance; the role of social networks in both intrastate conflict and interstate conflict; and social networking among politicians, constituents, and bureaucrats.[54]
In criminology and urban sociology, much attention has been paid to the social networks among criminal actors
For example, murders can be seen as a series of exchanges between gangs
Murders can be seen to diffuse outwards from a single source, because weaker gangs cannot afford to kill members of stronger gangs in retaliation, but must commit other violent acts to maintain their reputation for strength.[55]
Diffusion of ideas and innovations studies focus on the spread and use of ideas from one actor to another or one culture and another
This line of research seeks to explain why some become "early adopters" of ideas and innovations, and links social network structure with facilitating or impeding the spread of an innovation
A case in point is the social diffusion of linguistic innovation such as neologisms
Experiments and large-scale field trials (e.g., by Nicholas Christakis and collaborators) have shown that cascades of desirable behaviors can be induced in social groups, in settings as diverse as Honduras villages,[56][57] Indian slums,[58] or in the lab.[59] Still other experiments have documented the experimental induction of social contagion of voting behavior,[60] emotions,[61] risk perception,[62] and commercial products.[63]
In demography, the study of social networks has led to new sampling methods for estimating and reaching populations that are hard to enumerate (for example, homeless people or intravenous drug users.) For example, respondent driven sampling is a network-based sampling technique that relies on respondents to a survey recommending further respondents.[64][65]
The field of sociology focuses almost entirely on networks of outcomes of social interactions
More narrowly, economic sociology considers behavioral interactions of individuals and groups through social capital and social "markets"
Sociologists, such as Mark Granovetter, have developed core principles about the interactions of social structure, information, ability to punish or reward, and trust that frequently recur in their analyses of political, economic and other institutions
Granovetter examines how social structures and social networks can affect economic outcomes like hiring, price, productivity and innovation and describes sociologists' contributions to analyzing the impact of social structure and networks on the economy.[66]
Analysis of social networks is increasingly incorporated into health care analytics, not only in epidemiological studies but also in models of patient communication and education, disease prevention, mental health diagnosis and treatment, and in the study of health care organizations and systems.[67]
Human ecology is an interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary study of the relationship between humans and their natural, social, and built environments
The scientific philosophy of human ecology has a diffuse history with connections to geography, sociology, psychology, anthropology, zoology, and natural ecology.[68][69]
In the study of literary systems, network analysis has been applied by Anheier, Gerhards and Romo,[70] De Nooy,[71] Senekal,[72] and Lotker,[73] to study various aspects of how literature functions
The basic premise is that polysystem theory, which has been around since the writings of Even-Zohar, can be integrated with network theory and the relationships between different actors in the literary network, e.g
writers, critics, publishers, literary histories, etc., can be mapped using visualization from SNA.
Research studies of formal or informal organization relationships, organizational communication, economics, economic sociology, and other resource transfers
Social networks have also been used to examine how organizations interact with each other, characterizing the many informal connections that link executives together, as well as associations and connections between individual employees at different organizations.[74] Many organizational social network studies focus on teams.[75] Within team network studies, research assesses, for example, the predictors and outcomes of centrality and power, density and centralization of team instrumental and expressive ties, and the role of between-team networks
Intra-organizational networks have been found to affect organizational commitment,[76] organizational identification,[37] interpersonal citizenship behaviour.[77]
Social capital is a form of economic and cultural capital in which social networks are central, transactions are marked by reciprocity, trust, and cooperation, and market agents produce goods and services not mainly for themselves, but for a common good
Social capital is split into three dimensions: the structural, the relational and the cognitive dimension
The structural dimension describes how partners interact with each other and which specific partners meet in a social network
Also, the structural dimension of social capital indicates the level of ties among organizations.[78] This dimension is highly connected to the relational dimension which refers to trustworthiness, norms, expectations and identifications of the bonds between partners
The relational dimension explains the nature of these ties which is mainly illustrated by the level of trust accorded to the network of organizations.[78] The cognitive dimension analyses the extent to which organizations share common goals and objectives as a result of their ties and interactions.[78]
Social capital is a sociological concept about the value of social relations and the role of cooperation and confidence to achieve positive outcomes
The term refers to the value one can get from their social ties
For example, newly arrived immigrants can make use of their social ties to established migrants to acquire jobs they may otherwise have trouble getting (e.g., because of unfamiliarity with the local language)
A positive relationship exists between social capital and the intensity of social network use.[79][80][81] In a dynamic framework, higher activity in a network feeds into higher social capital which itself encourages more activity.[79][82]
This particular cluster focuses on brand-image and promotional strategy effectiveness, taking into account the impact of customer participation on sales and brand-image
This is gauged through techniques such as sentiment analysis which rely on mathematical areas of study such as data mining and analytics
This area of research produces vast numbers of commercial applications as the main goal of any study is to understand consumer behaviour and drive sales.
In many organizations, members tend to focus their activities inside their own groups, which stifles creativity and restricts opportunities
A player whose network bridges structural holes has an advantage in detecting and developing rewarding opportunities.[48] Such a player can mobilize social capital by acting as a "broker" of information between two clusters that otherwise would not have been in contact, thus providing access to new ideas, opinions and opportunities
British philosopher and political economist John Stuart Mill, writes, "it is hardly possible to overrate the value of placing human beings in contact with persons dissimilar to themselves...
Such communication [is] one of the primary sources of progress."[83] Thus, a player with a network rich in structural holes can add value to an organization through new ideas and opportunities
This in turn, helps an individual's career development and advancement.
A social capital broker also reaps control benefits of being the facilitator of information flow between contacts
Full communication with exploratory mindsets and information exchange generated by dynamically alternating positions in a social network promotes creative and deep thinking.[84] In the case of consulting firm Eden McCallum, the founders were able to advance their careers by bridging their connections with former big three consulting firm consultants and mid-size industry firms.[85] By bridging structural holes and mobilizing social capital, players can advance their careers by executing new opportunities between contacts.
There has been research that both substantiates and refutes the benefits of information brokerage
A study of high tech Chinese firms by Zhixing Xiao found that the control benefits of structural holes are "dissonant to the dominant firm-wide spirit of cooperation and the information benefits cannot materialize due to the communal sharing values" of such organizations.[86] However, this study only analyzed Chinese firms, which tend to have strong communal sharing values
Information and control benefits of structural holes are still valuable in firms that are not quite as inclusive and cooperative on the firm-wide level
In 2004, Ronald Burt studied 673 managers who ran the supply chain for one of America's largest electronics companies
He found that managers who often discussed issues with other groups were better paid, received more positive job evaluations and were more likely to be promoted.[48] Thus, bridging structural holes can be beneficial to an organization, and in turn, to an individual's career.
Computer networks combined with social networking software produce a new medium for social interaction
A relationship over a computerized social networking service can be characterized by context, direction, and strength
The content of a relation refers to the resource that is exchanged
In a computer-mediated communication context, social pairs exchange different kinds of information, including sending a data file or a computer program as well as providing emotional support or arranging a meeting
With the rise of electronic commerce, information exchanged may also correspond to exchanges of money, goods or services in the "real" world.[87] Social network analysis methods have become essential to examining these types of computer mediated communication.
In addition, the sheer size and the volatile nature of social media has given rise to new network metrics
A key concern with networks extracted from social media is the lack of robustness of network metrics given missing data.[88]
Based on the pattern of homophily, ties between people are most likely to occur between nodes that are most similar to each other, or within neighbourhood segregation, individuals are most likely to inhabit the same regional areas as other individuals who are like them
Therefore, social networks can be used as a tool to measure the degree of segregation or homophily within a social network
Social Networks can both be used to simulate the process of homophily but it can also serve as a measure of level of exposure of different groups to each other within a current social network of individuals in a certain area.[89]
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