Borgatti_Analyzing Affiliation Networks

Analyzing Affiliation Networks Stephen P. Borgatti and Daniel S. Halgin LINKS Center for Social Network Analysis Gatton College of Business and Economics University of Kentucky Lexington, KY 40506 USA In social network analysis, the term “affiliations”... More

Analyzing Affiliation Networks Stephen P. Borgatti and Daniel S. Halgin LINKS Center for Social Network Analysis Gatton College of Business and Economics University of Kentucky Lexington, KY 40506 USA In social network analysis, the term “affiliations” usually refers to membership or participation data, such as when we have data on which actors have participated in which events. Often, the assumption is that comembership in groups or events is an indicator of an underlying social tie. For example, Davis Gardner and Gardner (1941) used data provided by the society pages of a local newspaper to uncover distinct social circles among a set of society women. Similarly, Domhoff (1967) and others have used comembership in corporate boards to search for social elites (e. g. , Allen, 1974; Carroll, Fox and Ornstein, 1982; Galaskiewicz, 1985; Westphal and Khanna, 2003). Alternatively, we can see co-participation as providing opportunities for social ties to develop, which in turn provide o Less