Book contents
- Network Analysis
- Structural Analysis in the Social Sciences
- Network Analysis
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Introduction
- Part I Thinking Structurally
- 2 What Is Social Structure?
- 3 What Is a Social Network?
- 4 How Are Social Network Data Collected?
- 5 How Are Social Network Data Visualized?
- Part II Seeing Structure
- Part III Making Structural Predictions
- References
- Index
- References
2 - What Is Social Structure?
from Part I - Thinking Structurally
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 21 September 2023
Book contents
- Network Analysis
- Structural Analysis in the Social Sciences
- Network Analysis
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Introduction
- Part I Thinking Structurally
- 2 What Is Social Structure?
- 3 What Is a Social Network?
- 4 How Are Social Network Data Collected?
- 5 How Are Social Network Data Visualized?
- Part II Seeing Structure
- Part III Making Structural Predictions
- References
- Index
- References
Summary
The primary aim of social network analysis is building and evaluating theories of social structure – that is, enduring patterns of human interaction and ways of thinking about and organizing human groups. The sheer complexity of social structure prevents encapsulation in any single model, and this complexity is compounded as we incorporate cultural beliefs and social expectations in addition to interactions. Networks link actors to one another in systems, raising tricky questions about the locus of control and activity, particularly regarding the extent to which people are active agents or passive puppets (to put it bluntly) of social structure. While acknowledging deep and ultimately unsettled issues in the field, we provide readers with an overarching though still evolving theoretical account of social structure that can guide both inductive and deductive social network research and allow plug-in points for different perspectives on agency, culture, and constraint.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Network AnalysisIntegrating Social Network Theory, Method, and Application with R, pp. 19 - 44Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2023
References
Suggested Further Reading
Blau, Peter M. 1977. Inequality and Heterogeneity: A Primitive Theory of Social Structure. New York: Free Press. (Provides the foundation for work on homophily and opportunity structure; linking social relations, interests, and the intersection social characteristics. See also CATNETs by Harrison White.)Google Scholar
Bott, Elizabeth. 1957. Family and Social Network. New York: Taylor & Francis. (A lovely examination of the effects of gender and network segregation on role performance. Foundational work for the study of family and normative pressures in networks.)Google Scholar
Castells, Manuel. 2009. The Rise of Network Society. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-Blackwell. (Argues that modern social life is fundamentally changed by the advent of “information and communication technologies,” which allows for the widespread globalization of networks. See also the rich literature on World Systems Theory, particularly the empirical work of Christopher Chase-Dunn and colleagues.)Google Scholar
Coleman, James S. 1994. The Foundations of Social Theory. Cambridge, MA: Belknap of Harvard University Press. (Attempts to build a social theory based on purposive action constrained by relational opportunities. Exemplar case of mathematical theorizing.)Google Scholar
Emirbayer, Mustafa. 1997. “Manifesto for a Relational Sociology.” American Journal of Sociology 103: 281–317. (Argues that the essence of any valid model for social structure has to be relational; provides a deep foundation for network models of social life.)Google Scholar
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Nadel, Siegfried Frederick. 1957. The Theory of Social Structure. Glencoe, IL: Free Press. (Presents roles as interrelated systems of social expectations and obligations.)Google Scholar
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White, Harrison C. 1992. Identity and Control: A Structural Theory of Social Action. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. (An effort to present a synthetic theory of social structure that draws on cultural turn sociology [interactionist and sociolinguistic] and social network theories concerning roles, but with extensions to macrostructures and processes, like disciplines and network domains.)Google Scholar
Bainbridge, William Sims. 2020. The Social Structure of Online Communities. New York: Cambridge University Press. (For obvious reasons, novices often conflate social media and social networks; this work provides a clear example of how to apply deep network thinking to online communities without falling prey to computational approaches that speak only to scale and not substance.)Google Scholar
Bearman, Peter. 1997. “Generalized Exchange.” American Journal of Sociology 102: 1383–415. (Using blockmodels of kinship exchange, this paper provides a clear example of how people enact social structure, even if they cannot articulate why they do so.)Google Scholar
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Padgett, John F., and Ansell, Christopher K.. 1993. “Robust Action and the Rise of the Medici, 1400–1434.” American Journal of Sociology 98(6): 1259–319. (A historical illustration of how a political system emerges out of the interactions and alliance systems of Renaissance elite family politics.)Google Scholar