商品簡介
Scott (sociology, Plymouth U., UK) simplifies the techniques of network analysis for those with a limited mathematical background and assesses the relevance of specific mathematical models and measures for different research needs. He discusses the history of social network analysis, and its origins in the social psychology of small groups, its development in sociological and social anthropological studies of factories and communities, and work done by sociologists and physicists in the 1970s and since the 1990s. He details issues in defining the boundaries of social networks and selecting relations for study; the analysis of "ego-centric" networks focused on particular individuals and whole networks with global properties; data collection methods; the basic building blocks of social networks; the "centrality" of points and the "centralization" of whole networks; concepts for the investigation of subgroups; the structure of the positions defined by social relations and the ways these form more complex structures; and formal approaches to the display of relational data. Most chapters end with the application of measures to empirical studies in areas like kinship, community structure, corporate interlocks, and elite power. This edition has updated references and discussions, as well as a new chapter on the recent work on network dynamics and change over time. It incorporates discussion of software into the main text. Annotation c2013 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
