Analyzing Social Networks Using R

This approachable book introduces network research in R, walking you through every step of doing social network analysis. Drawing together research design, data collection and data analysis, it explains the core concepts of network analysis in a non-technical way. The book balances an easy to follow explanation of the theoretical and statistical foundations underpinning network analysis with practical guidance on key steps like data management, preparation and visualisation. With clarity and expert insight, it: • Discusses measures and techniques for analyzing social network data, including digital media • Explains a range of statistical models including QAP and ERGM, giving you the tools to approach different types of networks • Offers digital resources like practice datasets and worked examples that help you get to grips with R software

Written by a stellar team of experts, Analyzing Social Networks is a practical book on how to collect, visualize, analyze and interpret social network data with a particular emphasis on the use of the software tools UCINET and Netdraw. The book includes a clear and detailed introduction to the fundamental concepts of network analyses, including centrality, subgroups, equivalence and network structure, as well as cross-cutting chapters that helpfully show how to apply network concepts to different kinds of networks. Written using simple language and notation with few equations, this book masterfully covers the research process, including: · The initial design stage · Data collection and manipulation · Measuring key variables · Exploration of structure · Hypothesis testing · Interpretation This is an essential resource for students, researchers and practitioners across the social sciences who want to use network analysis as part of their research. Available with Perusall—an eBook that makes it easier to prepare for class Perusall is an award-winning eBook platform featuring social annotation tools that allow students and instructors to collaboratively mark up and discuss their SAGE textbook. Backed by research and supported by technological innovations developed at Harvard University, this process of learning through collaborative annotation keeps your students engaged and makes teaching easier and more effective. Learn more.

Presenting a comprehensive resource for the mastery of network analysis in R, the goal of Network Analysis with R is to introduce modern network analysis techniques in R to social, physical, and health scientists. The mathematical foundations of network analysis are emphasized in an accessible way and readers are guided through the basic steps of network studies: network conceptualization, data collection and management, network description, visualization, and building and testing statistical models of networks. As with all of the books in the Use R! series, each chapter contains extensive R code and detailed visualizations of datasets. Appendices will describe the R network packages and the datasets used in the book. An R package developed specifically for the book, available to readers on GitHub, contains relevant code and real-world network datasets as well.

Networks have permeated everyday life through everyday realities like the Internet, social networks, and viral marketing. As such, network analysis is an important growth area in the quantitative sciences, with roots in social network analysis going back to the 1930s and graph theory going back centuries. Measurement and analysis are integral components of network research. As a result, statistical methods play a critical role in network analysis. This book is the first of its kind in network research. It can be used as a stand-alone resource in which multiple R packages are used to illustrate how to conduct a wide range of network analyses, from basic manipulation and visualization, to summary and characterization, to modeling of network data. The central package is igraph, which provides extensive capabilities for studying network graphs in R. This text builds on Eric D. Kolaczyk’s book Statistical Analysis of Network Data (Springer, 2009).

Designed to walk beginners through core aspects of collecting, visualizing, analyzing, and interpreting social network data, this book will get you up-to-speed on the theory and skills you need to conduct social network analysis. Using simple language and equations, the authors provide expert, clear insight into every step of the research process—including basic maths principles—without making assumptions about what you know. With a particular focus on NetDraw and UCINET, the book introduces relevant software tools step-by-step in an easy to follow way. In addition to the fundamentals of network analysis and the research process, this Second Edition focuses on: Digital data and social networks like Twitter Statistical models to use in SNA, like QAP and ERGM The structure and centrality of networks Methods for cohesive subgroups/community detection Supported by new chapter exercises, a glossary, and a fully updated companion website, this text is the perfect student-friendly introduction to social network analysis.

Introduction to Social Network Analysis with R provides an introduction to performing SNA studies using R, combining the theories of social networks and methods of social network analysis with the R environment as an open source system for statistical data analysis and graphics.

SOCIAL NETWORK ANALYSIS As social media dominates our lives in increasing intensity, the need for developers to understand the theory and applications is ongoing as well. This book serves that purpose. Social network analysis is the solicitation of network science on social networks, and social occurrences are denoted and premeditated by data on coinciding pairs as the entities of opinion. The book features: Social network analysis from a computational perspective using python to show the significance of fundamental facets of network theory and the various metrics used to measure the social network. An understanding of network analysis and motivations to model phenomena as networks. Real-world networks established with human-related data frequently display social properties, i.e., patterns in the graph from which human behavioral patterns can be analyzed and extracted. Exemplifies information cascades that spread through an underlying social network to achieve widespread adoption. Network analysis that offers an appreciation method to health systems and services to illustrate, diagnose, and analyze networks in health systems. The social web has developed a significant social and interactive data source that pays exceptional attention to social science and humanities research. The benefits of artificial intelligence enable social media platforms to meet an increasing number of users and yield the biggest marketplace, thus helping social networking analysis distribute better customer understanding and aiding marketers to target the right customers. Audience The book will interest computer scientists, AI researchers, IT and software engineers, mathematicians.

Understanding the social relations within the fields of business and economics is vital for the promotion of success within a certain organization. Analytics and statistics have taken a prominent role in marketing and management practices as professionals are constantly searching for a competitive advantage. Converging these technological tools with traditional methods of business relations is a trending area of research. Applied Social Network Analysis With R: Emerging Research and Opportunities is an essential reference source that materializes and analyzes the issue of structure in terms of its effects on human societies and the state of the individuals in these communities. Even though the theme of the book is business-oriented, an approach underlining and strengthening the ties of this field of study with social sciences for further development is adopted throughout. Therefore, the knowledge presented is valid for analyzing not only the organization of the business world but also for the organization of any given community. Featuring research on topics such as network visualization, graph theory, and micro-dynamics, this book is ideally designed for researchers, practitioners, business professionals, managers, programmers, academicians, and students seeking coverage on analyzing social and business networks using modern methods of statistics, programming, and data sets.

We live in a world that is paradoxically both small and vast; each of us is embedded in local communities and yet we are only a few 'links' away from anyone else in the world. This engaging book represents these interdependencies' positive and negative consequences, their multiple effects and the ways in which a local occurrence in one part of the world can directly affect the rest. Then it demonstrates precisely how these interactions and relationships form. This is a book for the social network novice learning how to study, think about and analyse social networks; the intermediate user, not yet familiar with some of the newer developments in the field; and the teacher looking for a range of exercises, as well as an up-to-date historical account of the field. It is divided into three clear sections: 1. historical & Background Concepts 2. Levels of Analysis 3. Advances, Extensions and Conclusions The book provides a full overview of the field - historical origins, common theoretical perspectives and frameworks; traditional and current analytical procedures and fundamental mathematical equations needed to get a foothold in the field. Available with Perusall—an eBook that makes it easier to prepare for class Perusall is an award-winning eBook platform featuring social annotation tools that allow students and instructors to collaboratively mark up and discuss their SAGE textbook. Backed by research and supported by technological innovations developed at Harvard University, this process of learning through collaborative annotation keeps your students engaged and makes teaching easier and more effective. Learn more.

The scientific study of networks - computer, social, and biological - has received an enormous amount of interest in recent years. However, the network approach has been applied to the field of animal behaviour relatively late compared to many other biological disciplines. Understanding social network structure is of great importance for biologists since the structural characteristics of any network will affect its constituent members and influence a range of diverse behaviours. These include finding and choosing a sexual partner, developing and maintaining cooperative relationships, and engaging in foraging and anti-predator behavior. This novel text provides an overview of the insights that network analysis has provided into major biological processes, and how it has enhanced our understanding of the social organisation of several important taxonomic groups. It brings together researchers from a wide range of disciplines with the aim of providing both an overview of the power of the network approach for understanding patterns and process in animal populations, as well as outlining how current methodological constraints and challenges can be overcome. Animal Social Networks is principally aimed at graduate level students and researchers in the fields of ecology, zoology, animal behaviour, and evolutionary biology but will also be of interest to social scientists.