Analyzing Social Networks
Student Resources
Chapter 1: Introduction
1.8 Problems and Exercises
1. There are three levels of analysis in the study of social networks: the dyadic level, node level and network level. For each of the research problems described below, what level of analysis is appropriate?
a. In a coeducational summer camp for teens, researchers want to know the extent to which attitudes about religion play a role in the formation of friendships within the first week of coming to camp.
Answer: Dyadic level
b. An anthropologist is interested in studying the relationship between Canadian Inuit hunters’ structural position in a hunting advice network, as measured by indegree centrality, and their hunting success.
Answer: Node level
c. A sports psychologist is interested in studying the relationship between basketball team cohesion off the court and number of regular season wins among a sample of 30 US universities.
Answer: Network level
d. A political scientist hypothesizes a relationship between the presence of international trade relations and the formation of bilateral defense agreements.
Answer: Dyadic level
e. An agricultural extension researcher proposes that time of adoption of a new fertilizer among Iowa corn farmers is related to the structural centrality of farmers in a communication network.
Answer: Node level
f. An organizational sociologist hypothesizes that the more regional sales teams have a centralized information-sharing network the greater the team’s overall sales.
Answer: Network level
g. An educational researcher is interested in how the political views of incoming freshmen at a large university affect the formation of friendship ties over the first semester.
Answer: Dyadic level
h. A network researcher is interested in the relationship between astronaut knowledge of mission network structure and psychological well-being over the course of a 30-day simulated mission.
Answer: Node level
i. A management researcher advocates that highly centralized networks are more efficient at a variety of task settings than distributed networks, and designs an experiment to test this hypothesis.
Answer: Network level
2. For each of the research problems identified in Problem 1, which is the explanatory variable, and is it a network or non-network variable?
a. In a coeducational summer camp for teens, researchers want to know the extent to which attitudes about religion play a role in the formation of friendships within the first week of coming to camp.
Answer: Explanatory variable is attitudes towards religion and is a non-network variable.
b. An anthropologist is interested in studying the relationship between Canadian Inuit hunters’ structural position in a hunting advice network, as measured by indegree centrality, and their hunting success.
Answer: Explanatory variable is centrality in a hunting advice network and is a network variable.
c. A sports psychologist is interested in studying the relationship between basketball team cohesion off the court and number of regular season wins among a sample of 30 US universities.
Answer: Explanatory variable is basketball team cohesion and is a network variable.
d. A political scientist hypothesizes a relationship between the presence of international trade relations and the formation of bilateral defense agreements.
Answer: Explanatory variable is international trade relations and is a network variable.
e. An agricultural extension researcher proposes that time of adoption of a new fertilizer among Iowa corn farmers is related to the structural centrality of farmers in a communication network.
Answer: Explanatory variable is the structural centrality of farmers in a communication network and is a network variable.
f. An organizational sociologist hypothesizes that the more regional sales teams have a centralized information-sharing network the greater the team’s overall sales.
Answer: Explanatory variable is the degree of centralized information-sharing networks in regional sales teams and is a network variable.
g. An educational researcher is interested in how the political views of incoming freshmen at a large university affect the formation of friendship ties over the first semester.
Answer: Explanatory variable is the political views of incoming freshmen and is a non-network variable.
h. A network researcher is interested in the relationship between astronaut knowledge of mission network structure and psychological well-being over the course of a 30-day simulated mission.
Answer: Explanatory variable is astronaut knowledge of mission network structure and is a network variable.
h. A management researcher advocates that highly centralized networks are more efficient at a variety of task settings than distributed networks, and designs an experiment to test this hypothesis.
Answer: Explanatory variable is the extent to which a network is centralized and is a network variable.
3. Based on the taxonomy of relations in Table 1.2, what type of relation best reflects each of the following? Explain your answer.
a. International trade
Answer: It is a relational event and involves the flows of products between countries
b. Financial transactions among banks
Answer: It is a relational event and involves the flow of money between banks
c. Preschool children’s stated play preferences
Answer: It is a relational event and involves the extent to which children like to play with other children
d. College student attendance at university functions
Answer: It is similarities and involves co-participation in college events
e. Who one trusts in an organization
Answer: It is a relational cognition and is an affective toe concerning who one trusts
f. Advice-seeking among scientific research team members
Answer: It is a relational event and is an interaction involving who one seeks advice from
g. Who one talks to about important matters
Answer: It is a relational event and is an interaction involving who one talks to about important matters
h. Money lending in a rural Indian community
Answer: It is a relational event and involves the flow of money between members of the community
i. Conflict among ethnic groups in South Sudan
Answer: It is a relational event and involves conflict interactions among ethnic groups
j. Enjoys working with in small project teams
Answer: It is a relational event and involves interactions of individuals who one enjoys working with
k. Would want to work on future projects with others in a high tech firm
Answer: It is a relational event and involves future interactions in the high tech firm
l. Sexual relationships among IV drug users
Answer: It is a relational event and involves interactions of who has had sexual relations with whom
m. Lab proximity of scientists in a research institute
Answer: It is similarities and involves co-location
n. Observed interactions at a company picnic
Answer: It is a relational event and involves interactions among people at a company picnic
o. County commissioners and their votes on policy issues
Answer: It is similarities and involves participation in in terms of how one votes