Editing Social network analysis (section)

{{short description|Analysis of social structures using network and graph theory}}
{{about|the theoretical concept|quantitative application to social media|social media analytics|social networking sites|social networking service|other uses|Social network (disambiguation)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2023}}
{{Sociology}}{{Network science}}[[File:Kencf0618FacebookNetwork.jpg|thumb|A [[network diagram|social network diagram]] displaying friendship ties among a set of [[Facebook]] users.]]
'''Social network analysis''' ('''SNA''') is the process of investigating social structures  through the use of [[Network theory|networks]] and [[graph theory]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Otte |first1=Evelien |last2=Rousseau |first2=Ronald |title=Social network analysis: a powerful strategy, also for the information sciences |journal=Journal of Information Science |date=December 2002 |volume=28 |issue=6 |pages=441–453 |doi=10.1177/016555150202800601 |s2cid=17454166 }}</ref> It characterizes networked structures in terms of ''nodes'' (individual actors, people, or things within the network) and the ''ties'', ''edges'', or ''links'' (relationships or interactions) that connect them.  Examples of [[social structure]]s commonly visualized through social network analysis include [[Social media|social media networks]],<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Grandjean |first1=Martin |title=A social network analysis of Twitter: Mapping the digital humanities community |journal=Cogent Arts & Humanities |date=31 December 2016 |volume=3 |issue=1 |doi=10.1080/23311983.2016.1171458 |s2cid=114999767 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="Hagen L 2018 523–541">{{cite journal |last1=Hagen |first1=Loni |last2=Keller |first2=Thomas |last3=Neely |first3=Stephen |last4=DePaula |first4=Nic |last5=Robert-Cooperman |first5=Claudia |title=Crisis Communications in the Age of Social Media: A Network Analysis of Zika-Related Tweets |journal=Social Science Computer Review |date=October 2018 |volume=36 |issue=5 |pages=523–541 |doi=10.1177/0894439317721985 |oclc=7323548177 |s2cid=67362137 }}</ref> [[meme]] proliferation,<ref>{{Cite arXiv|last1=Nasrinpour|first1=Hamid Reza|last2=Friesen|first2=Marcia R.|last3=McLeod|first3=Robert D.|date=2016-11-22|title=An Agent-Based Model of Message Propagation in the Facebook Electronic Social Network|eprint=1611.07454|class=cs.SI}}</ref> information circulation,<ref>{{cite journal|last=Grandjean|first=Martin|title=The Paris/Geneva Divide. A Network Analysis of the Archives of the International Committee on Intellectual Cooperation of the League of Nations|language=en|journal=Culture as Soft Power: Bridging Cultural Relations, Intellectual Cooperation, and Cultural Diplomacy|date=2022|pages=65–98|doi=10.1515/9783110744552-004|url=https://shs.hal.science/halshs-03760539/file/Grandjean_2022_TheParisGenevaDivide.pdf}}</ref> [[Weak ties|friendship and acquaintance networks]], business networks, knowledge networks,<ref name=Brennecke2017>{{cite journal |last1=Brennecke |first1=Julia |last2=Rank |first2=Olaf |title=The firm's knowledge network and the transfer of advice among corporate inventors—A multilevel network study |journal=Research Policy |date=May 2017 |volume=46 |issue=4 |pages=768–783 |doi=10.1016/j.respol.2017.02.002 }}</ref><ref name=Harris2009>{{cite journal |last1=Harris |first1=Jenine K. |last2=Luke |first2=Douglas A. |last3=Zuckerman |first3=Rachael B. |last4=Shelton |first4=Sarah C. |title=Forty Years of Secondhand Smoke Research |journal=American Journal of Preventive Medicine |date=June 2009 |volume=36 |issue=6 |pages=538–548 |doi=10.1016/j.amepre.2009.01.039 |pmid=19372026 |oclc=6980180781 }}</ref> difficult working relationships,<ref name=Brennecke2019/> [[collaboration graph]]s, [[kinship]], [[disease transmission]], and [[sexual network|sexual relationships]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Pinheiro, Carlos A.R.|title=Social Network Analysis in Telecommunications|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|year=2011|isbn=978-1-118-01094-5|page=4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jP8zfL6yNGkC&pg=PA4}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=D'Andrea, Alessia|chapter=An Overview of Methods for Virtual Social Network Analysis|editor1=Abraham, Ajith|title=Computational Social Network Analysis: Trends, Tools and Research Advances|publisher=Springer|year=2009|isbn=978-1-84882-228-3|page=8|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-S1KiURSfRAC&pg=PA8|display-authors=etal}}</ref> These networks are often visualized through ''[[sociogram]]s'' in which nodes are represented as points and ties are represented as lines. These visualizations provide a means of qualitatively assessing networks by varying the visual representation of their nodes and edges to reflect attributes of interest.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Grunspan|first=Daniel|date=January 23, 2014|title=Understanding Classrooms through Social Network Analysis: A Primer for Social Network Analysis in Education Research|journal=CBE: Life Sciences Education|volume=13|issue=2|pages=167–178|doi=10.1187/cbe.13-08-0162|pmid=26086650|pmc=4041496}}</ref>

Social network analysis has emerged as a key technique in modern [[sociology]]. It has also gained significant popularity in the following: [[anthropology]], [[biology]],<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Tringali |first1=Angela |last2=Sherer |first2=David L. |last3=Cosgrove |first3=Jillian |last4=Bowman |first4=Reed |title=Life history stage explains behavior in a social network before and during the early breeding season in a cooperatively breeding bird |journal=PeerJ |date=10 February 2020 |volume=8 |pages=e8302 |doi=10.7717/peerj.8302 |pmid=32095315 |pmc=7020825 |doi-access=free }}</ref> [[demography]], [[communication studies]],<ref name="Hagen L 2018 523–541"/><ref name=":1">{{Cite book|title=Social network differences of chronotypes identified from mobile phone data|date=2018 |oclc=1062367169}}{{page needed|date=November 2021}}</ref> [[economics]], [[geography]], [[history]], [[information science]], [[organizational studies]],<ref name=Brennecke2017/><ref name=Brennecke2019/> [[physics]],<ref name=Gao2023>{{cite journal |last1=Gao |first1=Min |last2=Li |first2=Zheng |last3=Li |first3=Ruichen |last4=Cui |first4=Chenhao |last5=Chen |first5=Xinyuan |last6=Ye |first6=Bodian |last7=Li |first7=Yupeng |last8=Gu |first8=Weiwei |last9=Gong |first9=Qingyuan  |last10=Wang |first10=Xin |last11=Chen |first11=Yang |url=https://www.cell.com/patterns/pdf/S2666-3899(23)00218-0.pdf |title=EasyGraph: A multifunctional, cross-platform, and effective library for interdisciplinary network analysis |journal=Patterns |date=October 2023 |volume=4 |issue=10 |pages=100839|doi=10.1016/j.patter.2023.100839 |pmid=37876903|pmc=10591136 }}</ref> [[political science]],<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kim |first1=Rakhyun E |title=Is Global Governance Fragmented, Polycentric, or Complex? The State of the Art of the Network Approach |journal=International Studies Review |date=26 November 2020 |volume=22 |issue=4 |pages=903–931 |doi=10.1093/isr/viz052 |doi-access=free }}</ref> public health,<ref name=Harris2007>{{cite journal |last1=Harris |first1=Jenine K. |last2=Clements |first2=Bruce |title=Using Social Network Analysis to Understand Missouri's System of Public Health Emergency Planners |journal=Public Health Reports |date=July 2007 |volume=122 |issue=4 |pages=488–498 |doi=10.1177/003335490712200410 |pmid=17639652 |pmc=1888499 |oclc=8062393936 }}</ref><ref name=Harris2009/>  [[social psychology]], [[development studies]], [[sociolinguistics]], and [[computer science]],<ref name=Ghanbarnejad>{{Cite book|title=Dynamics On and Of Complex Networks III Machine Learning and Statistical Physics Approaches|last1=Ghanbarnejad|first1=Fakhteh|last2=Saha Roy|first2=Rishiraj|last3=Karimi|first3=Fariba|last4=Delvenne|first4=Jean-Charles|last5=Mitra|first5=Bivas|date=2019|publisher=Springer International Publishing : Imprint: Springer|isbn=9783030146832|location=Cham |oclc=1115074203}}{{page needed|date=November 2021}}</ref> education and distance education research,<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Bozkurt |first1=Aras |last2=Akgun-Ozbek |first2=Ela |last3=Yilmazel |first3=Sibel |last4=Erdogdu |first4=Erdem |last5=Ucar |first5=Hasan |last6=Guler |first6=Emel |last7=Sezgin |first7=Sezan |last8=Karadeniz |first8=Abdulkadir |last9=Sen-Ersoy |first9=Nazife |last10=Goksel-Canbek |first10=Nil |last11=Dincer |first11=Gokhan Deniz |last12=Ari |first12=Suleyman |last13=Aydin |first13=Cengiz Hakan |date=2015-01-20 |title=Trends in distance education research: A content analysis of journals 2009–2013 |url=https://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/1953 |journal=The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning |language=en |volume=16 |issue=1 |doi=10.19173/irrodl.v16i1.1953 |issn=1492-3831 |doi-access=free }}</ref> and is now commonly available as a consumer tool (see the [[Social network analysis software|list of SNA software]]).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-19699776|title=Facebook friends mapped by Wolfram Alpha app|work=BBC News|date=September 24, 2012|access-date=July 25, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://techcrunch.com/2012/08/30/wolfram-alpha-launches-personal-analytics-reports-for-facebook/|title=Wolfram Alpha Launches Personal Analytics Reports For Facebook|work=Tech Crunch|date= August 30, 2012|author=Frederic Lardinois|access-date=July 25, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author1=Ivaldi M.|author2=Ferreri L.|author3=Daolio F.|author4=Giacobini M.|author5=Tomassini M.|author6=Rainoldi A.|title=We-Sport: from academy spin-off to data-base for complex network analysis; an innovative approach to a new technology|journal=J Sports Med Phys Fitness |date=2011 |volume=51|issue=suppl. 1 to issue 3|hdl=2318/90491|quote=The social network analysis was used to analyze properties of the network We-Sport.com allowing a deep interpretation and analysis of the level of aggregation phenomena in the specific context of sport and physical exercise.}}</ref>