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Social Network Analysis for Fruitful Practices

A Review of Literature of

Social Network Analysis for Fruitful Practices

By

Askarbek Mambetaliev

for

Dr. Don Allen and Dr. Rebecca Harrison

Knowledge Stewardship Team

September, 2009

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Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION ……………………………………………………………………. 3

Part 1: Social Networks and Social Network Analysis in the Social Sciences

Chapter 1: Evolution and Main Contributors of Social Network Analysis ….. 4

Chapter 2: Organization and Structure of Social Network Analysis ………… 10

Chapter 3: Common Terms and Concepts in Social Network Analysis………12

Chapter 4: Applications and Approaches to Social Network Analysis……….. 17

Part 2: Intra and Inter Personal Issues of Social Network Analysis

Chapter 5: Psychological Dynamics in Social Networks …………………….. 21

Chapter 6: Trust and Social Capital in Social Networks……………………… 27

Chapter 7: Leadership and Centrality in Social Networks……………………. 31

Part 3: Major Church Planting Aspects in Social Network Analysis

Chapter 8: Identity Issues in Social Networks ……………………………… 36

Chapter 9: Financial Issues in Social Networks………………………………. 39

Chapter 10: Engaging Social Network Analysis in Planting Churches ………. 40

CONCLUSIONS ………………………………………………………………………. 47

Appendixes …………………………………………………………………………….. 48

REFERENCES ………………………………………………………………………… 50

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Introduction

Social Network Analysis (SNA) has been a serious topic for scholars since the last century.

It also attracted researchers from a variety of disciplines. A rapidly growing interest since the 1990s

to the subject matter has produced numerous books and extended its applications to a number of

fields in the Social Sciences. The density of those publications make difficult to infer a precise

conclusion for a given specific field of SNA. For this reason, this literature review aims to provide

a summary of SNA discussing the important sources which are fundamental for understanding this

complex subject matter. In particular, part one of the reviews the literature related to evolution,

applications and approaches of SNA. Part two covers major societal and psychological aspects

discussed by selected social network analysts. Part three brings major community development

issues in relation to SNA.

While formation and development of SNA is fundamental for understanding the dynamics

of the subject, the review pays also a considerable attention to salient terms and concepts based on

conclusions of main contributors in the selected literature. Further discussion narrows SNA to

psychological dimensions of social networks. In particular, it reviews literature concerning the

effect of individuality on social capital and position in social networks. The last three chapters

bring reviews of some application of SNA for community development and church planting issues.

The concluding chapter provides a description of the social fabric in Kyrgyzstan as an

example of social network structure in a post Soviet Muslim country. It also suggests essential

literature for further readings pertaining to sources of psychological aspects, social capital and

culture of the Kyrgyz people.

This review is useful both for beginning social network analysts and advanced level social

psychologists. It also connects SNA with church planting perspectives, providing examples drawn

from fruitful practices.

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PART 1

SOCIAL NETWORKS AND

SOCIAL NETWORK ANALYSIS IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

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Chapter 1: Evolution and Main Contributors of Social Network Analysis

Nobody else can do better explanation of the development of Social Network

Analysis (SNA) than Linton Freeman, from the University of California. His two works on

this: The Development of Social Network Analysis: A Study in the Sociology of Science,

published at Vancouver, BC in 2004, and his article “Some Antecedents of Social Network

Analysis” published in 1996, give a comprehensive history of SNA. The other two

outstanding resources for understanding historical and theoretical foundations of SNA are

Social Network Analysis: Methods and Applications by Wasserman and Faust (1996); and

a review of Network Analysis in the Social Sciences submitted by Borgatti et al. The latter

essay presents the evolution of SNA in a chronological order where each paragraph

describes the shift of the subject matter in a given decade. It also describes concepts using

examples to better illustrate the ideas to the reader.

In his abovementioned article, Freeman believes that studies of pre-school children

by Almack, Welman, Chevaleva-Janovskaya, Bott, Hubbard and Hagman back in the

1920s were the antecedents of Social Network Analysis prior to Moreno‟s book on

sociometry, which was published in 1936. According to Freeman, while ignoring these

works which had already been done in the field of developmental and educational

psychology, social network analysts have re-invented many of the old ideas. For example,

these authors had already studied such aspects of SNA as homophilous choices (Almack,

1922; Wellman, 1926; Hagman, 1933), impact of age on group formation (Chevaleva-

Janovskaya, 1927; Habbard, 1929), socialization and behaviors (Bott, 1928).

However, even prior to the mentioned cohort of scholars, Emile Durkheim and

Ferdinant Tönnies had already paid an attention to the phenomena of social groups and

ties. At the turn of the twentieth century, George Simmel first introduced the idea that

loosely-knit networks are more likely to have a potential for interactions than groups.

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Three decades later, following the scholars in the previous paragraphs, J.L. Moreno

started a systematic analysis of small groups, while W.Lloyd Warner and Elton Mayo

mentioned interpersonal relations at work. Wasserman and Faust (1996) also confirm that

pioneers of SNA came from social psychology.

In the 1950-70s, studies on human relations by J. Barnes, on kinship by Elizabeth

Bott, and on urbanization by Max Gluckman & J.Clyde Mitchell have been contributed to

SNA. This led to the boom of SNA which gathered a number of Harvard scholars around

Talcott Parsons (structural-functionalist approach), George Homans (methodological

individualism), and Harrison White, who opposed the mentioned two approaches. Stanley

Milgram (the author of the “six degrees of separation”), was also in the group of Harrison

White.

Besides the Harvard group, independent teams in different universities worked on

mathematical applications (Linton Freeman, John Boyd, Susan Freeman, Kathryn Faust,

Kimball Romney, Douglas White), quantitative analyses (Joseph Galaskiewicz, Wendy

Griswold, Edward Laumann, Peter Marsden, Martina Morris, John Padgett),

communication specialists (Nan Lin, Everett Rogers), etc.

In 1973, Mark Granovetter from Stanford University introduced the idea of “the

strength of weak ties”, which implied the efficiency of numerous weak ties for information

seeking and innovation. In addition, Robin Dunbar, another British anthropologist, found

that networks with more than 150 members cannot handle effective communication. In

1979, Freeman attempted to conceptualize the issue of centrality in social networks. Later,

in 1993, Ibarra, H., & Andrews, S. B. re-emphasized the effects of network centrality on

employee perceptions.

A number of publications (re)paid an attention to methods (Rice, R.E., & Richards,

W.D., 1985; Freeman, L.C., White, D.R., & Romney, A.K., 1992), communication aspects

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(B. Dervin & M.J. Voight (Eds.),1985; Monge, P.R., & Contractor, N.S., 2003), and

analysis (Scott, J., 2000; Wasserman, S., and Faust, K., 1994).

Further development of SNA had required more complex visualization of social

network structure. Friemel attributes the first graphical representation of relational data to

Henry Morgan, Alexander Macfarlane and John Hobson whose ideas had been introduced

in the end of 19th

century.

Freeman is a valuable resource who can provide the most accurate description of

the history of social network analysis. He approaches to SNA as a concept rooted way back

to the beginning of social sciences in Europe. However, Freeman doesn‟t strive to expand

SNA beyond its existing boundaries.

The other influential authors in the network of scholars, whose work are

fundamental in understanding SNA are Scott, J (1994, 2000), and Wasserman and Faust

(1994). The second edition of Social Network Analysis by Knock and Yang (2007)

published at the same site (SAGE Publications), Kadushin‟s (2002) Basic Concepts,

White‟s (1992) Identity and Control, and a number of other work, which have been made

available through Cambridge University Press, such as Exploratory Social Network

Analysis with Pajek by De Nooy, et al (2005), Models and Methods for Social Network

Analysis by Wasserman and Scott (2005), are also helpful in learning methods and models

of social network analysis.

Advances in Social Network Analysis (Wasserman & Galaskiewicz, 1994) presents

application of SNA in behavioral and social science disciplines. In particular the book

discusses issues of SNA pertaining to inter-organizational relations, epidemiology, social

influence and it‟s usefulness for psychologists and sociologists. A review of Exploratory

Social Network Analysis with Pajek (2005) by W.de Nooy, A.Mrvar, & V.Batagelj

published in New York is an introductory book, which covers fundamentals of SNA,

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visualization issues, data collection techniques, analysis of attributes and relations,

measures of cohesion and statistical tools to identify cohesive subgroups, structural balance

and information exchange within structural clusters, roles of actors and implication of

directed ties.

The subject also cannot be valuable without considering the important concept of

“small world” phenomenon and „six degrees of separation” introduced by Stanley Milgram

in 1967, and the idea of “the strength of weak ties” by Granovetter, published in 1973.

It‟s advisable to start the subject with literature on basic concepts of SNA

(Wasserman and Faust, 1994; Scott, 2000; Kadushin, 2002; Freeman, 2004). This provides

the reader an understanding of basic vocabulary and formal definitions, prior to moving

onto books discussing the subject in the fields of specialized disciplines, which may require

an advanced knowledge of mathematical analysis, statistics, graph theories, psychology,

computer software, etc. For example, while Knock and Yang (2007) in the second edition

of their book Social Network Analysis, make basic concepts, methodologies and data

collection in SNA easily understandable by providing examples and illustrations, Models

and Methods for Social Network Analysis by Wasserman and Scott (2005) and Peter J.

Carrington, John Scott and Stanley Wasserman, eds. (2005) apply complex mathematical

formulas; and Social Networks by Kalish and Robins (2006) articulates with a variety of

psychological terms and concepts.

For those interested in choosing research methods for SNA, Research Methods in

Social Network Analysis edited by Freeman, C., White, D. & Romney, K. would be a

helpful resource.

Since 1990s, SNA has become an object of growing interest for both networks of

analysts and network of concepts. The main advantage and disadvantage of SNA is that

their main contributors are still U.S. scholars and academicians. In addition, the data

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collected for analysis and the social environments it has been applied to are still a topic of a

homogenous network of scholars and their cultural subjectivities.

Approaching to concluding paragraph for this section, I want to mention Duling

(1999), who believes that the rebirth of SNA started after the WWII with J.A. Barnes‟

research in Norway. The significance of his work on physical and social networks of Jesus

and his followers is that he describes in details the historical sites of Jesus‟ trip by bringing

together the scriptural and historical evidences. This is important to understand the role of

various types of networks, including networks of roads, towns, families and events, in

developing social relationships and ideas. On the other hand, without an analysis of the

mentioned networks it would be very complicated to understand the effects of social

environment to the group of people and vice versa. Duling also proposes that SNA helps

to better understand the Jesus‟ movement network, which can be represented as spatial

network and network of relatives.

The literature mentioned in this section has provided a historical account of the

evolution of SNA and useful to get basic ideas of different approaches and features of

social networks. Skipping the works which have been mentioned in this section would

complicate further understanding of the issues of SNA which we are going to present in the

next chapters. Furthermore, besides the history of SNA, a closer attention needs to be paid

to learning of the features of social networks pertaining to group formation,

communication issues, roles of actors and their environment. In addition, the literature

explaining methods will be helpful in selecting the most suitable approaches to assess,

evaluate and understand cultural, psychological and environmental characteristics of social

networks of target communities.

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Chapter 2: Organization and Structure of Social Network Analysis

Basically, SNA is a combination of mathematical analysis, graph theory and social

sciences. The difference of SNA from traditional social science studies is that the former

views attributes of individuals (friendly or unfriendly, smart or dumb, etc) less important

than the relationships between the members of network. In organizations, an individual

often draws his power not from his or her official position but from the overflowing

relationships.

Social networks can be represented as collaboration graphs which consists of ties

(relationships, edges) and nodes (egos, individuals, actors, vertices). A node may have ties

with set of other individuals, which are called alters. Nodes can be heterogeneous and

homogenous. Ties can be directed (for example one-directional as giving advice to

someone) or undirected. They also may be dichotomous (whether nodes are friends or not),

weighted (measured by strength of friendship). Information about ties between nodes is

called relational data which can be represented in the form of graphs or matrices.

Relationships also may be directed or not directed and valued or have no weight. The

relationships have a certain value and can be positive (friendly) or negative (hostile). When

all the ties are positive or friendly it‟s called balanced, if one of the relationships is

negative then the network is unbalanced. This concept is well described in the structural

balance and transitivity theory by Wasserman and Faust (1996, pp.221-224).

In his article “Visualizing Social Networks”, Freeman discussed the development

of graphical representations of nodes and ties using the example of Moreno‟s drawings. In

these illustrations, points and directed graphs are drawn in different shapes and colors to

emphasize important structural features of social networks. Further development of

graphical illustration of social networks after 1970s has been carried out by various

sophisticated computer programs, which automated and accelerated the visualization

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processes. Followed by the invention of the web browser, computers could not only

instantly produce standardized structures of networks, but also show them in three

dimensions.

Understanding characteristics of social networks could also be better achieved by

visualizing nodes and ties. This may be done by using computer software which helps to

observe and analyze dynamics of relationships and positions. A voluminous book Models

and Methods in Social Network Analysis edited by Peter J.Carrington, John Scott and

Stanley Wasserman, includes various graph models and a number of computer software

programs for SNA.

Finally, social network analysis puts a higher priority to power of ties over the

status and attributes of nodes and this is a distinguishing feature of SNA from other social

sciences. Therefore, the ties need to be studied thoroughly for designing community

development projects aimed to bringing changes in societies. It‟s also worth to remind the

importance of strength of weak ties, the ability to handle effective communication system

and flow of information, and psychological issues that influence decision making processes

in networks. In addition, closer attention needs to be paid to different strategic features of

nodes in social networks, which are located not only in the closed clusters, but also in

bridging points and the peripheries. Social network analysts have not yet discussed

sufficiently the cultural, religious and psychological variables which may yield exceptions

in dynamics that occur within social networks. In Kyrgyzstan, for example, social networks

of relatives and acquaintances play stronger role than they are in western cultures. The cult

of atomic family in the U.S. is an equivalent of the cult of extended family or network of

relatives in Central Asia. For this reason the problem of nepotism and protectionism in

politics, career development and community development is the central issue in the entire

Central Eurasian region. That is why there is a saying about the transition period in

Kyrgyzstan, which characterizes the post-soviet transformations as “from plan to clan”.

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These and other factors that influence the functioning of social networks need yet to be

studied and considered in non western contexts.

Chapter 3: Common Terms and Concepts in Social Network Analysis

According to the review entitled “Network Analysis in the Social Sciences,”

submitted by Borgatti et al (2009), Social Network Theory explains the question how

individuals can get together to create enduring and functioning societies (p.2).

The following measures or key terms are applied in SNA: betweenness, bridge,

centrality, closeness, clustering coefficient, cohesion, degree, density, betweenness

centrality, eigenvector centrality, local bridge, path length, prestige, radiality, reach,

structural cohesion, structural equivalence, and structural hole. There is no need to give a

detailed description of each of these terms here, because it‟s well described in numerous

reviews available online (one of the best examples is here:

http://www.orgnet.com/sna.html). Therefore, this review is limited with short definitions of

some important terms and goes further reviewing concepts.

The centrality of a node is measured by the number of direct ties that the node

maintains with other alters. However, having a star-like network, which connects the node

with a maximum number of alters, does not mean the best network. Because, a network

centralized around a single individual is vulnerable to rapid collapse. Therefore, nodes that

are located in between networks have their advantages – they play the role of the broker

who controls what flows between separate networks. Another property of nodes is

closeness, which allows the node to have the shortest path to the maximum number of

alters. Having a higher number of degree of centrality does not mean being close to

everyone else.

Graph 5 in the application shows the degree of centrality, closeness and

betweenness. As it‟s well demonstrated in the computerized program (see appendix 1),

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while Diana has the highest degree of centrality, Fernando and Garth have the higher

degree of closeness, and Heather‟s degree of betweenness is the best in the network,

because her location is a connecting point of two clusters of the network.

The nodes located close to the central node most likely to know each other and

share the same information among them. In contrast, peripheral nodes (weak ties) have a

tendency to break away from the network and thus they are more prone to become sources

of information (Borgatti, p.6).

The difference of SNA from traditional social science studies is that the former

views attributes of individuals (friendly or unfriendly, smart or dumb, etc) as less important

than the relationships between the members of network. In organizations, an individual

often draws his power not from his or her official position but from the overflowing

relationships.

“Increasing numbers of people not only live their lives in networks of relationships,

but find their identity through this” (Lings, 2007). According to Seratt (2009), “the

defining feature of social network analysis is its focus on the structure of relationships,

ranging from casual acquaintance to close bonds” (p.2).

Networks are not stable and change in the process of adjustment (Ah-Hioks, 2000,

p.151) [Dissertation abstract]. They are also different between various ethnic groups

(Banaria, 2004, p.109). “People who see themselves vulnerable to external forces tend to

inhabit closed networks of weak connections,” and vice versa is true as well (Kalish &

Robins, 2005, [abstract]). According to Dr. Stan Nussbaum, the fact that networks are

unstable is very important from the missiological point of view,

People in unstable, economically depressed societies are in a paradoxical position

relative to the arrival of the good news. On the one hand, their networks are closed

which makes it difficult for change to occur. On the other hand, the connections

within the network are weak, which makes change easier. However, if they change,

they may take on a new identity in a new network and abandon their old network

entirely, since their connections with it were weak. Then the good news does not

spread through the network they abandoned. To avoid this, the good news must be

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shared in culturally appropriate ways so one does not have to completely reject the

old network in order to welcome the news (personal email conversation).

Garcia (2003) names 3 types of network – family, church and contract (job)

networks (p.116). According to Kadushin (2004) social networks also may be ego-centric

(my good friends), socio-centric (intra organizational or closed networks), and open system

(inter organizational networks). Social networks are not uniformed. Rather, they are

clustered and consist of different groups and sets. The positions in these clusters may be

named by locals (emic) or observed by outsiders (etic) (p.4).

Kadushin describes the degree of cohesion within groups, which can be measured

by the extent that the members are pulled together when confronted with disruptive forces.

This degree is not dependent on the density within social ties, i.e. a group with a property

which makes it relatively resistant to external disruption may have a less density and vice

versa (Kadushin, 2004, p.35).

The literature does not discuss how the degree of coherence is affected by

collectivist and individualist cultures, and how it relates to social and human capital of

culturally bound networks. It would also be interesting to know how the property of

cohesion is affected by radical religious ideologies, since it could shed a light to the

problem of resisting against religious extremism and terrorism. In Afghanistan and

Pakistan, for example, hundreds of Muslims with high level density of social networks tend

to easily become a prey to relatively small groups of terrorists.

The world consists of overlapping different “social circles”, the term introduced by

George Simmel in 1955. If in formal institutions boundaries of membership are clear, in

social networks they are invisible and unclear. However, the distances between nodes can

be measured by belongings to the intersecting social circles and clusters in networks. The

more intersecting social circles an individual possesses the greater is that individual‟s

bridging potentiality, which is a kind of social capital (Kadushin, 2004, p.49).

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Basically, ties between the two nodes can be directional (graph 1), mutual (graph

2), or not connected at all. Bringing an example of a traffic jam, Kadushin says that in

order to see the whole picture of the mess one needs a helicopter; otherwise his vision will

be reduced to the limited zone (p.26). Earlier in his analysis Kadushin indicated that zones

after the third node are unimportant. Nodes and systems with similar structure work

similarly (p.15). Mutuality doesn‟t mean equality (p.17).

Relationships also can be formal and informal, kinship, general, organizational,

economic, social, brokering.

Multiplexity is when two nodes have more than one kind of relationship with each

other, i.e. they may be not only “supervisor” and “assistant”, but also friends (p.27).

Social networks analysis has shown that lots of weak ties out of the main networks

have a more useful effect than smaller and tighter networks. In other words, a person

benefits more from an open network with a variety of numerous loose ties than from

networks with a few and well connected to each other nodes. This phenomenon of the

strength of weak ties lies in the fact that our acquaintances (weak ties) enjoy more freedom

from formal and economic commitment to each other than our close friends (strong ties);

the information flow among weak ties is more unbiased and free from mutual profit.

Granovetter‟s point on the strength of weak ties implies that an absence of weak

ties deprives an individual of information from distant zones of the social system, which

his or her closed network can‟t provide. The lack of weak ties also contributes to

disintegration and incoherency of the individual‟s network, since the weak ties serve as

bridges between different zones of social networks.

The concept of threshold implies a level of certain conditions when network

members are most likely to join in a behavior or phenomena. Kadushin mentions a

proportion in a network or a number of nodes whose attributes or functions provoke a

“crowd behavior” (p.31). This idea is interesting from the perspectives of culture change

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when a given society change its title, for example, the (former) “Buddhist” South Korea

has become a Christian country for many. Unfortunately, Kadushin‟s paper does not go

further in explaining details of the threshold phenomenon.

Kadushin‟s Introduction to Social Network Theory provides overall useful

information about SNA. In particular, its second chapter is valuable for understanding such

properties of social networks as homophily, network segmentation, distance and

relationships between nodes, centrality issues, the role of position, and social circles.

Reviewing a vast number of core literatures, Kadushin presents a comprehensive analysis

of existing theories and concepts.

However, it‟s an explanatory paper by and large, though elements of criticism are

present in some places. It also doesn‟t include, as any other literature related to SNA, such

interesting aspects of social psychology as attitude formation and value change in social

systems.

Borgatti et al (2008) describes four theoretical mechanisms in social networks:

transmission (a flow of something between nodes), adaptation (nodes in the same

environment become similar to each other), binding (straight ties between nodes), and

exclusion (two nodes may exclude third one). As mentioned earlier, nodes with lots of

structural holes better manipulate other alters keeping them separate and applying the

principle of “divide and conquer” (p.13).

Thus, SNA helps to map and analyze social environments, as well as relationships

between individuals, groups and groups of groups. For this purpose it uses a number of

terms, attributes and concepts, which have been explained by the authors mentioned above.

However, the existing attributes, terms and functions of SNA are not the full list of

variables which affect social networks. For example, a coefficient indicating the state‟s

ideology, religion and culture on dynamics within social networks would be an interesting

contribution to the accuracy of SNA. Another variable on how an individual‟s membership

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in a religious or political community affects the network of relatives would also be useful

in designing community development projects aimed to raise awareness of problems.

For example, Nicodemus in the New Testament was an official member of the

closed network of the Sanhedrin, which held hostile attitudes towards the members of the

new sect. He continued to be so even after he had met Jesus, though his transformed

consciousness has made him a black sheep in his former network. In this point,

Nicodemus‟ location between the two networks is unique and exceptional for both

networks. Nicodemus may serve as a leader to bring pluralism to society, as a source of

information to produce new knowledge for both networks, or as a catalyst of changes in his

community. However, if Nicodemus cannot play effectively one of his options, he will be

forcefully removed from one or both of his networks. According to the theory of strength

of weak ties, keeping the loose ties with the new network and maintaining the strong

relationships with the oldest one, makes Nicodemus a key node in strategic situations and

gives him an opportunity to be useful for both networks.

Further work has to be done to investigate the issues pertaining to social

psychology. In the meantime, more study of strategic locations of nodes and their functions

in the structure of social networks, as well as effective employment of those nodes and

functions may produce fruitful practices. This is also useful to understand the power and

role of secret believers, the philosophy of the contextualized faith, and effective ways of

transforming the society employing various strategic locations in social networks.

Chapter 4: Applications and Approaches to Social Network Analysis

SNA has been applied in physics, mathematics, computing, biology, social and

behavioral sciences, as well as in intelligence, epidemiology, economics, marketing,

organization change and management, spread of rumor, mass surveillance, criminology,

and probably will be applied in understanding social aspects of religious extremism as

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well. Social networks operate from kinship level up to national level. Social Network

Analysis is a structural approach, which studies interactions between social objects and

conditions for these interactions. It‟s also useful in the analysis of the ways how problems

are solved, organizations are run and how individuals achieve their goals. Social Network

Analysis may reveal the social capital of actors as well.

In general, the literature on social network analysis could be classified into four

clusters by their focus on: 1) structure and interactions, 2) the potential of actors to achieve

certain goals, 3) the level of trust and rules that regulate the behavior of actors, 4) changes

in network structure over time.

Also, the literature mentions the following methods of analysis of social networks:

the methods of graph theory, methods of finding the local attributes of subjects, such as

centrality, prestige, status, belonging to certain subgroups; methods for determining the

equivalence of actors, including their structural equivalence; block models and the role

algebras; analysis of dyad and triads; probabilistic models; correspondent analysis and

topological methods.

Furthermore, in his edited book Why Context Matters, Thomas Friemel included

conference papers pertaining to dynamics of social networks, the flow of information in

them and the contextual factors. In particular, Friemel‟s article explains why context

matters and brings a number of applications of SNA, which he separates into two groups of

research: descriptive and explanatory (2007, p.11).

Reviewing works of Watts (2003), Scott (2000), and Ganovetter (1973), Fabrice

(2005) identified three strands of thought among analysts to interpret behavior:

1. Focus on relationships in social networks to extract information about certain

characteristics of a social group.

2. Focus on analysis of influence of nodes in the social network to learn social

identity of nodes in social networks.

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3. Focus on strength or weakness of ties. According to Fabrice, “the four most

important concepts used in network analysis are network density, centrality, betweenness

and centralization” (p.7).

Russell and colleagues approach to grouping of social networks as emotional and

social support networks (includes all the people an ego knows) and global networks.

Wasserman and Faust (1996) provide examples of the importance of SNA in

studying corporate behavior in large organizations, how groups make decisions and

processes of change within groups over time. Emphasizing on methodological aspects of

SNA, the authors explain different kinds of network data, representations in social

networks (graph theory, matrix operations, notation), structural properties of social

networks, methods for social network roles and statistical methods.

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PART 2:

INTER AND INTRA PERSONAL ISSUES

OF SOCIAL NETWORK ANALYSIS

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Chapter 5: Psychological Dynamics in Social Networks

Although in the very beginning, SNA was applied to developmental psychology of

pre-school children as mentioned by Freeman (1996), it has been mostly discussed from

the structural perspectives. The gap between psychology and SNA has remained open until

recently, when Kadushin (2002), and Kalish & Robins (2006), attempted to reapply it back

to psychology.

On the other hand, there have always been some intersecting clusters of SNA which

dealt with intrapersonal issues such as the role of homophilous sentiments in developing

social networks. In addition to homophily phenomenon, Fowler & Christakis (2008)

pointed that “the emotional state of a person‟s social relationships is more important to

one‟s own emotional state than the total number of those relationships”, thus attempting to

link emotional state of egos and their social relationships. Francisco (2004) found that

happy people are more trusting to each other than unhappy ones, consequently their social

capital is stronger, since “social capital creates more social capital” (p.131).

According to Nussbaum,

[a] major obstacle to the spread of the good news to unhappy people (and most who

need it are unhappy) is that they tend not to trust other people in their networks.

Winning trust is important for good news carriers, but it is also very difficult

because unhappiness works against trust-building (personal email communication,

August, 2009).

Also, according to Fukuyama (2002), the spread of Protestantism is one of the

biggest and least studied revolutions (p.36). Therefore, the impact of religious conversions

on social capital needs to be included into research agenda (p.23).

In addition, Kalish and Robins (2006), mentioned two different theories of

appearance of social structure, which are centered either on self-organization of ties or on

individual predispositions (p.61). They also pointed that people who are high on

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extraversion may have large and diverse social networks (p.64). However, an attribute of

extraverts, it seems, is skipped in these conclusions – the trend that they have toward both

upset and happy emotions. In this regard, although their happy state may attract others,

there is a persistent danger of ruining social relations when they are upset.

Clare Bidart and Daniel Lavenu from Universite de la Mediterranґee, France

conducted a longitudinal study of 66 young people, who were questioned every three years.

They found that dynamics of evolution of personal networks linked to such life events as

graduating from high school, entering into labor market, marriage and geographical

mobility. In particular, the survey showed that rapid decline in young people‟s life takes

place in the periods of leaving highly structured, homogenous school environment and

entering a labor market and moving to new places pursuing jobs where they have no

acquaintances. A rapid growth of their social networks was noticed following after such

rapid declines, when they settled down in their new social environment and established

new contacts. The other factor decreasing personal social networks besides graduation

from high school is family life. Especially, for most young women, entering family life is

accompanied with the birth of children and focusing on family, which cuts off many of her

social ties with the former classmates and friends. However, for some young people who

had experienced hardships in their school years for economic or family reasons, entering

into job market and gaining more freedom may present an opportunity to expand their

networks (Bidart &Lavenu, 2005). According to Bidart and Degenne (2005), role

complementarities, identification and affinity help us to analyze relationships and their

periods of change (p.285).

Kalish and Robbins (2005) explained the idea that individual psychological

differences shape that individual‟s social network, since “individuals seek “balance” in

regard to objects in the world (not just social relations) to avoid dissonance-like outcomes”

23

(p.57). According to Fowler and Christakis (2008), “happy people tend to be connected to

one another” (p.5). Earlier, Kadushin (2002) had also described how psychological

predispositions experienced in the early childhood affect the person‟s social networks.

Further research on personality discovered the “Big Five”: Neuroticism,

Extroversion, Openness to Experience, Conscientiousness and Agreeableness. The level of

each attribute in this list affects the size and diversity in personal networks. For example,

people who tend to adopt negative attitudes of others (neurotics) usually have fewer

number of supporting alters than extroverts, whose supporting alters are large and diverse.

On the other hand, since extroverts seek to introduce their ties to each other, it‟s difficult

for them to connect all their friends with each other, owing to the large size of their

personal network, where homophily processes may not be strong due to the diversity in

their sizeable social environment (Kalish and Robbins, 2005, pp.63, 64).

Even so, on the basis of assumptions by Mehra et al. (2001), Kalish and Robins

(2006) hypothesized that having many strong structural holes does not affect an

individual‟s ability to develop star-like ego-networks. They also propose that people who

believe in their ability to control their environment (internals), more actively form their

social networks in response to their needs. In contrary, those people who believe that their

fate is controlled externally (externals), tend to see themselves as passive representatives.

Another assumption they make is that people with high self-monitoring ability (ability to

adjust public performance on the basis of feedback and experience) tend to have higher

number of structural holes (p.65).

In my view, these assumptions depend on a number of circumstances that egos

encounter. An “active” individual may feel the same as an “external” in hierarchical

cultures. At the same time, new emigrants from an oppressive country may change their

perception gradually from “external” towards “internal” moods as their needs and

environment demand it. In addition, considering the fact that some post soviet republics

24

have experienced several “self-expressive” and active political actions since their

independence and others have not, one could say that the rapid change of oppression may

give a temporary excitement of freedom which they exploit intensively in a short time

period.

Another book From Seed to Fruit edited by Dudley Woodberry (2008) provides

empirical practices of community development in Muslim cultures. Although, the

conclusions and proposal of the book uses the results of qualitative research, it‟s not an

analysis of theories. It attempts to discuss some methods of psychology such as attitude

change, though those discussions are based on theological ideas and practical examples,

but not on previous concepts of psychology.

An individual‟s psychological stance, as well as his/her physical and spiritual well

being are also connected to dynamics of his social environment. People are not

independent in a given social network and they affect each other in one or another way.

Even health and wellbeing of people affect each other in their social networks. Another

variable affecting social relations is a geographical distance. A research found that remote

friends and relatives who live far away from the person do not contribute to his happiness,

while those who are within 1.6 mile significantly increase it (Fowler & Christakis , 2008,

pp.5-8).

According to the authors of this theory the individual‟s happiness directly linked to

the social distance of happy alters. This idea leads to a logical conclusion that happy people

make their environment happier through spreading a good “contagion”. However, the

theory doesn‟t take into account the other human factors such as jealousy of alters towards

the ego, which indeed, is a part of many cultures.

In her research Garcia (2003) explained the role of social networks in making

decisions using the example of emigrants from Mexico, “at the roots of migration decisions

are issues of social capital and social networks” (p.116). On this Nussbaum states,

25

A migration decision is a major life-changing decision, perhaps similar to a change

in religious loyalty. We can expect that the same social network dynamics that are

strong enough to affect migration decisions will also be strong enough to affect

decisions about religious change (personal email communication, August, 2009).

Decision-making involves also change in belief systems. According to White

(1992) both ideological and social ties contribute to religious conversions (p.27-32). So,

the process of attitude formation and value change is also tightly linked to social capital of

social networks.

Engaging social networks into social psychology and education, which was a kind

of a structural hole for a while, shall be the next extension of SNA. It would contribute to

solving problems of prejudices and hostilities. Considering the following example from

recent history, which, to some extent, is still “true” for some people even today, we can see

the value of such study. “In Communist times, rumors were spread that Baptists and

Pentecostals sacrificed children and drank blood and had orgies and there can still be this

kind of stigma attached to the church” (Appleton, 2008, p.12). Any attempt to change this

assumption could have been blocked by the strong culture of totalitarianism, “if you try to

make yourself better than somebody else, or pursue excellence, it does not fit with the

communist perspective that everybody is equal, and you will be singled out” (Appleton,

2008, p.12).

Fowler & Christakis (2008), who were involved in the research developed at the

Framingham Heart Study project, found that the person‟s happiness is associated with the

happiness of people surrounding him as well, and dependent on time and distance (p.2).

According to them happy people are more open to changing their attitudes than the

unhappy. Happy people make their neighbors more open minded.

Still, such literature usually has been wrapped within the mainstream ideas of

mostly interpersonal issues of social networks, and has rarely been used to explain a

variety of psychological and anthropological factors that exist. Furthermore, the vast areas

26

of social psychology as attitude formation and value change are still untouched by social

network analysts.

Yet, the topic of changing attitudes and values is an important aspect of in the

world of social networks; so the existing debate covers a wide area, starting with deep

psychological issues of attitude formation (Ajzen & Albarachīn, 2007; Greenwald, 1989;

Olson & Fazio, 2009; Pratkanis, 1989; Oskamp & Schultz, 2005, pp.171-174) and ending

with theories of brainwashing (Lee, 1996; Aitmatov, 2004). Between this area, the study

also discusses various approaches to transforming attitudes: the role of education

(Czudnowski, 1983; Dey, 1997; Stembler, 1961), critical pedagogy (Freire, 2005),

minority‟s power (Smith & Hogg, 2008, p.346), political change (Miller et al., 1998), and a

range of theories of attitude change and persuasion (Kiesler et al., 1969, pp.89-342; Erwin,

2001, pp.110-131). The literature also discusses the role of affective and cognitive

components of attitudes in the process of attitude change (Festinger, 1957; Eagly &

Chaiken, 1993, pp.257-421; Albaracin, et al. 2005, pp.437-528). There is no need to repeat

in this study about links of values with political orientations (Miller et al., 1989), religion

(Burke, 1988; Kuran, 2004, pp.71-90), Islam (Askari & Taghavi, 2005), Protestantism

(Weber, 1998), and conflict (Huntington, 1996).

Many ideas of these authors can be easily related to religious conversion as well.

For example, the theory of reasoned action well known in social psychology implies that

intention, which is determined by attitudes and norms, directly influences to the adoption

of behavior. However, these issues have not yet been studied through the lenses of SNA.

Therefore, the study of these fields from the SNA perspectives would further expand the

explanation of such phenomena as, for instance, religious conversion on one hand, and

brainwashing on the other. In my hope, the discussion on personal networks, which is

going to be reviewed in the following paragraphs, will begin to bridge the gap.

27

The importance of attitude change in Muslim networks also derive from the fact

that for the majority of populations in the developing world the source of information is

mass media and rumors, which affect their worldviews and values. In addition, the

democratic world and the Bible would not allow for some norms that Islamists want to

impose to society. For example, in his book Non Muslims in the Islamic Society Yusuf al

Qaradawi, a devoted Muslim writer, sincerely questions:

We do not understand why a Christian or a Jew should be so offended by the

amputation of a thief‟s hand, or the flogging of slanderers, adulterers, and

drunkurds, or by any other punitive measures of shari’ah, be he Muslim or non-

Muslim. A Muslim adherers to these orders because for him it is an act of worship

– a means of becoming closer to Allah (1985, p.54).

According to al-Qaradawi (1985), tolerance, justice, mercy, and other “foundations

were not known to mankind before the Islamic era” (p.1). The author also argues that

Islamic state protects non-Muslims under the law called Dhimma, which, in his opinion, is

“like the citizenship granted by a government to an alien who abides by the constitution,

thereby earning all the rights of a natural citizen” (p.2).

Chapter 6: Trust and Social Capital in Social Networks

Fowler and Christakis (2008) stated that “We can be reasonably confident that

when someone names someone else as a friend, then the namer feels close to or esteems

the name” (p.3). Fukuyama (2002) pointed that social capital and trust bind people together

to defend their interests, meet their collective needs and resist external oppressive forces

(p.26).

Wellman (1999) considers that trust in social networks is greater in post communist

societies than in capitalist ones, because social networks substitute for the legal institutions

in those countries (p.228). People in these societies rely on their social networks when they

need to make decisions and evaluate information prior to turning to legal institutions. The

28

rationality of this behavior stems from many factors, including corruption of official

institutions, cost of services, and problems of access to information. This affects even

marriages: many couples tend to choose to stay under Muslim nikah or so called “civic

marriages” for a long time.

On the other hand, some scholars believe that social trust is stronger in individualist

cultures, not in collectivist ones. For example, Realo et al. (2008) state that “in societies

where individuals are more autonomous and seemingly liberated from social bonds, the

same individuals are also more inclined to form voluntary associations and to trust each

other and have a certain kind of public spirit“(p.448).

Realo et al. identified two different impacts between familism and institutional

collectivism, where the former may hinder human rights and the later increase social trust

(2008, p.458).

Many scholars attribute the Protestants‟ economic success to the level of trust in

Protestants‟ social networks (Weber, 1900, Felix, 2005, Kuran, 2004, Duffy, 2006).

Fukuyama (2002) follows this theory when he refers to trust in Social Networks as “a key

ingredient in both economic development and stable liberal democracy” (p.23). Realo, et

al. (2008) state that “development and modernization require that the network of trust is

extended to others outside of the traditional circle of family, neighborhood, and village”

(p.450). For example, collectivistic cultures, where moral foundations derive from kin

networks, may have a negative effect on larger scale economic growth. In this regard,

Fukuyama (2002) states, “family businesses frequently have trouble growing into large,

impersonal, professionally managed corporations with dispersed public ownership. This

ultimately puts limits on economic growth” (p.28).

Although, “trust is …created as a by-product of participation in social networks”

(Francisco, 2004, p.123), the level of trust defines the level of social capital. The level of

trust in relatives and friends differs for each culture. For example, a research found that

29

while Mexicans trust in their relatives more than their friends, Americans do vice versa

(Bernard, H.R., et al, 1990).

Further discussion on trust could include the link between loyalty and culture shift

in social networks of friends and relatives in Central Asian cultures. In my view, loyalty of

friends does not necessarily lead them to culture shift or religious conversion. In my

experience, during my culture shift period as a result of reading the Scriptures, and long

period of time after, my friends had been more loyal to me than my parents, who rejected

both my message and me. However, in the long perspective, among those who followed

my example were some of my brothers and sisters, but not my friends. Therefore, I suggest

more study about this difference between apparently open people (friends) who do not

convert and apparently closed people (family) who do.

A frequently mentioned topic pertaining to social capital has been the link between

trust and community development. The important attribute affecting development is

whether it is accepting (democratic) or rejecting (totalitarian). As Fukuyama (2002) points,

“It is not sufficient to go into a village, note the existence of networks, label it social

capital, and pronounce it a good thing”, because networks actually may resist development,

if they are “too insular or resistant to change” (p.34). When the social capital extensively

applies collectivistic norms over individual rights, it may increase totalitarianism, which is

rejecting and oppressive. Totalitarian networks proved to have negative impact both on

large scale economic growth and religious diversity. Therefore, the social trust needs to be

developed on the culture of pluralism and exclude the forces which have “a tendency to

build „in-group‟ solidarity at the expense of outsiders” (Fukuyama, 2002, p.30).

The literature also discusses about links between trust and information sharing

within social networks. According to Borgatty and Cross (2003) people most likely will be

seeking information from each other if they have the same information, which is valuable

for both parties and if they are sure that the information is not costly in terms of time,

30

money and other resources [abstract]). This theory suggests that people need to have basic

information of a mutual idea in order to feel hunger for more details. They also have to be

well informed about the quickest access to the information.

However, there is not much literature on how familism and collectivism of Central

Asians and other Muslims may serve positively or negatively to culture change. There

should also be discussions in the future on how tengrinianist1 views affect on trust and how

it differs for non Tengrianist Muslims. I hypothesize that while tengrianism and nomadism

increase individualism, Islam and Russian Orthodoxy decrease it. Because while the

former is born in the nomadic culture, which did not depend on immobile wealth, the latter

is created around institutionalized and highly hierarchical structures.

Another gap in the literature is how social positions in social networks affect

culture change. There is actually, an attribute of nodes in social networks termed with a

Chinese word Guanxi, which emphasizes the importance of position (status, location) and

defines an individual‟s influence in a given network. The Gospel presents a case of

Cornelius whose family accepted his new faith following him. In this case, Cornelius was

the head of family. Would his family follow his example if he was not so? There are many

known examples in the Muslim world, when a person accepts Jesus, his or her parents or

older brothers do not follow him or her at all.

Although SNA has already discussed the affect of rumors, further discussions on

trust in social networks and information seeking need also to include the issues of

stereotypes and prejudices, which may block trust in the usefulness of the information. For

example, Muslims know a lot about Jesus but still not hunger for knowing about him from

the Bible, since they consider it corrupted. This is a case when commonly shared

information is perceived differently by members of two distinct cultures, which affects

trust in social networks.

1 A pre-Islamic belief of Turkic and Mongolian tribes in a god of sky or heaven.

31

Chapter 7: Leadership and Centrality in Social Networks

A person‟s status and role in a social network are important variables in Eastern and

Muslim cultures where the structure of relationships is more hierarchical than in the West.

Making important distinctions between status, role and position, Wasserman and

Faust (1996) give theoretical definitions of roles and positions (pp.462-463). They also

explained the feature of prominence or visibility of an actor, which can be of two classes –

centrality and prestige. In order to be prominent, the actor has to be extensively involved in

relationships with others, through which he becomes visible (p.172), and in order to occupy

central positions, the nodes need to be self-monitoring (Kalish & Robins, 2005, p.59).

Thus, the formation of a group depends on the relations between its members that

emerge as a result of regular interactions between them. Kadushin (2004) also states that

“those with more positive feelings towards one another are at the core, those with less are

more peripheral” (p.36). Moreover, as Fowler & Christakis (2008) found, “People with

more friends will tend to be more central” (p.4). In addition, the homophily phenomenon

(“Bird of a feather, fly together”) also contributes to the group formation process. This

phenomenon is well discussed by Bramoulle (2009) and McPherson et al. (2001).

In his article Centrality in Social Networks, Freeman (1978/79) described the

evolution of centrality chronologically starting with the first research at MIT in 1940

(p.215).

Graph 5 (a,b,c). Core/Periphery models. Source: Kadoshin (2004). p.37, p.44.

32

Graph 5c is an example of polarization in the same social network where two nodes

A and T are central figures. This is a visualization of a potential conflict in social network,

where the central figures fight for adherents. As it‟s seen in the picture, the peripheral ties

are more “faithful” to a given figure, while central nodes may run from one barricade to

another depending on situation.

According to Kadushin, the given situation (graph 5c) is more prone to social

change. It gives a moment of opportunity for an individual or a team to break traditional

beliefs and structures. Although, the existing literature does not discuss this situation

applying to culture change, history presents us several cases of rapid Christianization of

communities occupying large geographical locations as a result of an individual‟s actions

locating the central position in social networks.

A number of scholars (Bavelas, 1948, Shimbel, 1953, Shaw, 1954, Cohn and

Marriott, 1958, Freeman, 78/79) pointed that strategic location of a person on

communication paths makes that person central, enabling him or her to coordinate group

processes. In this regards, formally appointed officials or pastors are more central than any

other members of the church.

However, the literature does not discuss much the difference of formal and informal

positions on centrality and trust in social networks. For example, my brother told me a case

in his village where people turn for help or advice to an informal leader more frequently

than to officials. The central figure, in his story, was a retired school teacher whom he

considers more effective than even the police. This example suggests that there may be a

person invisible to a newcomer in a given community, who actually plays the role of the

real leader.

Another attribute which contributes to gaining centrality is a person‟s ability to

make friends. The more friends a person makes the more central he or she becomes.

Consequently, the leadership potential of the person is in direct relation with his skills to

33

develop the network of friends. The centrality of the person also increases when his or her

network involves popular people and vice versa (Fowler & Christakis, 2008, p.4).

The literature also discusses the relation between network centrality and happiness.

According to Fowler and Christakis (2008), “the network centrality leads to happiness

rather than the other way around” (p.5) and “people at the core of their local networks

seem more likely to be happy, while those on the periphery seem more likely to be

unhappy”(p.7).

In pedagogy, “learner-centered” approaches are found more effective than the

traditional “teacher-centered” methods. The latter implies the method when the teacher

takes the central role and serves as the only source of knowledge. This pertains to

traditional religious services as well, where “pastor-centered” teachings are the only way of

studying Bible at congregational meetings.

These concepts suggest that achieving centrality in a society for a believer or a team

of believers is related to successful performance of their roles as community leaders and

messengers. The foreigner‟s role in missions, in this regard, is to help a local to gain

central roles through the “learner-centered” versus “missionary centered” life style. Such

approaches make the local‟s performance in his social environment effective. As Sparrow

et al. (2001) point out in their research, “individual job performance was positively related

to centrality in advice networks and negatively related to centrality in hindrance networks

composed of relationships tending to thwart task behaviors”.

In his dissertation on Muslim women activism and the transformation of the

Muslim public sphere, Bahi (2008) analyzes how Muslim women may help to transform

Islamic regulations by describing the development of a journal where Muslim woman

played the central role through moderating the flow of information shared between the

readers. The very fact that the editor of the journal was a Muslim also increased trust and

interactivity among readers. According to Woodberry (2008), groups led only by nationals

34

are twice as effective as foreigner-led communities (p.167). This underlines the

importance of pushing nationals to central roles.

At the same time, as Brown (2009) presented in his paper on leadership, the

importance of vision in hiring pastors, who are able to lead without controlling, should not

be left aside. Another problem among many others, in regard to leadership in post Soviet

cultures is that the locals are reluctant to make a step forward and take the central roles.

Appleton (2008) brings an example when local believers pushed a foreigner to take that

responsibility,

While Russians are reluctant to accept leadership from their own people unless they

have been “long in the saddle” they are willing to extend that role to foreign

nationals who come in and do the founding work. But problems come when foreign

leaders do not release leadership to local people, as when the missionary loses their

visa or moves on, there is no one left to fill the role. As a result, many churches in

this situation disband (p.12).

This requires systematic efforts for developing leadership through “validating,

affirming, and reinforcing the role of appointed leaders in the local church” (Woodberry,

2008, p.168). Also, the Fruitful Practices needs to be complemented with more works

using SNA on models and methods of developing mutual collaboration between local and

international workers. This work would bring more effect and trust when it‟s done by

international scholars.

35

Conclusions

It‟s believed that a growing interest in SNA had started when social psychologists

paid an attention to the role of social networks in developmental psychology. This interest

also believed to be a major trend of SNA and psychology in the future. Therefore, it would

be incomplete to review the literature on SNA without considering this essential

component of social networks. Taking this into account and considering the importance of

development stages of SNA for better understanding of the subject matter, this work covers

a wide range of literature pertaining to evolution, structure, terminology, concepts and

applications of SNA.

In addition to mentioned basics of SNA, the review attempts to analyze the

application of SNA in culture shift (attitude change) and community development (church

planting) processes. The rationale behind such composition is that the topics are

interlinked, less studied in combination and relevant to social network analysis. Therefore,

the review introduces a social scientist to basics of SNA in part one, then smoothly leads

him or her to the crossroads of specific disciplines in the second and third parts.

Appendixes

36

Graphical Illustrations of networks

(Adopted from Kadushin (2004). Page 3. )

Graph 1: Directional Graph 2: Non-directional Graph 3: Complex or intermediary

or mutual

Graph 3: Balanced or transitive

Graph 5: Source: http://www.orgnet.com/sna.html

37

Graph 6: Social Networks in the Bible

Source: http://www.esv.org/assets/blog/2007.01.nt.social.network.big.png

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