Social network analysis is about the kind of patterning that Roger Brown described when he wrote:
"Social structure becomes
actually visible in an anthill; the movements and contacts one sees are not random but patterned. We should also be able to see structure
in the life of an American community if we had a sufficiently remote vantage point, a point from which persons would appear to be
small moving dots. . . . We should see that these dots do not randomly approach one another, that some are usually together, some
meet often, some never . . . . If one could get far enough away from it human life would become pure pattern."
Network analysis
is based on the intuitive notion that these patterns are important features of the lives of the individuals who display them. Network
analysts believe that how an individual lives depends in large part on how that individual is tied into the larger web of social connections.
Many believe, moreover, that the success or failure of societies and organizations often depends on the patterning of their internal
structure.
That kind of intuition is probably as old as humankind. It is implied, for example, by the relative stress put on
descent lists in the Bible. And, beginning in the 1930s, a systematic approach to theory and research, based on that notion, began
to emerge. In 1934 Jacob Moreno introduced the ideas and tools of sociometry. And at the end of World War II, Alex Bavelas founded
the Group Networks Laboratory at M.I.T.
It was not until the 1970s, therefore--when modern discrete combinatorics (particularly
graph theory) experienced rapid development and relatively powerful computers became readily available--that the study of social networks
really began to take off as an interdisciplinary specialty. Since then its growth has been rapid. Today it has become an international
effort with its own professional organizations, textbooks, journals, research centers, training centers and computer programs designed
specifically to facilitate the analysis of structural data.
Social Network Analysis is focused on uncovering the patterning of people's interaction. Network Analysts believe that how an individual
lives depends in large part on how that individual is tied into the larger web of social connections. Many believe, moreover,
that the success or failure of societies and organizations often depends on the patterning of their internal structure.
From
the outset, the network approach to the study of behavior has involved two commitments:
1 - it is guided by formal theory organized in mathematical terms
2 - it is grounded
in the systematic analysis of empirical data
It has found important applications in organizational behavior, inter-organizational
relations, the spread of contagious diseases, mental health, social support, the diffusion of information, animal social organization
and business /marketing development.
Social Network Analysis is a diagnostic tool that gives you a bird’s-eye view of your organization’s
knowledge capital.
· An organization’s collective knowledge and experience, embodied
in informal networks, is its most valuable asset during times of change.
· With little effort, small but pivotal changes have substantial impact on business performance and therefore on the bottom line.
· Network Analysis is the most effective method of saving money because you are targeting the causal and most costly asset: human capital,
rather than treating symptoms.
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