Introduction

In the social sciences, society is regarded as a set of social layers or strata. Instead of ranking people, groups, or organizations on a continuous scale of prestige, they are usually classified into a limited set of discrete ranks, for instance, working class, lower middle class, upper middle class, and upper class. Within a group of humans, discrete ranking also occurs, for instance, leaders, followers, and outcasts. The stratification of art worlds into stars, settled artists, and mediocre artists is likely another example. In this chapter, we discuss techniques to extract discrete ranks from social relations.

Social ranking may be formal or informal and the two types of ranking may coexist. In a formal ranking, it is written down who commands whom and insignia or symbols minimize the ambiguity of the ranking and preclude any confusion about a person's rank. The army is an obvious example with its elaborate hierarchy. In contrast, an informal ranking is neither written down nor expressed by official symbols. It manifests itself in the opinions and behavior of people toward each other: respect and acts of deference versus disrespect and dominance.

The creation and maintenance of an informal ranking is a very important social process. Social network analysis is needed to investigate it and to assess the positions that individuals occupy within the informal ranking.