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- Title
COHESION VERSUS STRUCTURAL EQUIVALENCE AS A BASIS FOR NETWORK SUBGROUPS.
- Authors
Burt, Ronald S.
- Abstract
Two basic approaches to network analysts are compared in terms of the network subgroups each produces The relational approach, developing from traditional sociometry, focuses on relations between actors (individuals, groups, or corporations) and aggregates actors connected by cohesive bonds into “chques.” The positional approach focuses on the pattern of relations m which an actor is involved and aggregates actors with similar patterns, i.e., “structurally equivalent” actors, into jointly occupied positions. There are several questions that can be posed for a specific project that might lead an individual to analyze subgroups in terms of cohesion versus structural equivalence Here, considering a series of such questions, I conclude that subgroups based on structural equivalence are to be preferred to those based on cohesion. Cliques can be analyzed as a special type of jointly occupied network position. Illustration is provided by data on the elite experts in methodological and mathematical sociology circa 1975.
- Subjects
SOCIAL network analysis; COHESION; SOCIAL interaction; INTERPERSONAL relations; CLIQUES (Sociology); MATHEMATICAL sociology
- Publication
Sociological Methods & Research, 1978, Vol 7, Issue 2, p189
- ISSN
0049-1241
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1177/004912417800700205