Social network analysis: A brief introduction to the theory

Abstract

Social networks are self-organizing, emergent, and complex, such that a pattern appears from the interaction of the elements that make up the system (Newman M, Barabási AL, Watts DJ. The structure and dynamics of networks. Princeton studies in complexity. Princeton University Press, Oxford, 2006). These patterns become more apparent as network size increases. Social network analysis is a collection of concepts, measures, and techniques for relational analysis. It is an approach that is specifically designed to grasp the most important features of social structures and it is unrivalled in this task. It can be used to explore social relations themselves and also the cultural structures of norms and ideas that help to organize those relations in conjunction with material circumstances. The study discusses the ways in which relational and cultural structures can be investigated with a few simple network concepts. Theories of social structure inform and sustain the methods of social network analysis.