Acta Sociologica

http://asj.sagepub.com Software Review : A Toolkit for Social Network Analysis

John Scott Acta Sociologica 1996; 39; 211 DOI: 10.1177/000169939603900205 The online version of this article can be found at: http://asj.sagepub.com

Published by:
http://www.sagepublications.com

On behalf of:
Nordic Sociological Association

Additional services and information for Acta Sociologica can be found at: Email Alerts: http://asj.sagepub.com/cgi/alerts Subscriptions: http://asj.sagepub.com/subscriptions Reprints: http://www.sagepub.com/journalsReprints.nav Permissions: http://www.sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav Citations (this article cites 2 articles hosted on the SAGE Journals Online and HighWire Press platforms): http://asj.sagepub.com/cgi/content/refs/39/2/211

Downloaded from http://asj.sagepub.com by MATEI MARIAN on September 26, 2007 1996 Scandinavian Sociological Association. All rights reserved. Not for commercial use or unauthorized distribution.

SOFTWARE REVIEW

A Toolkit for Social Network

Analysis

John Scott

University of Essex
general principles of social network analysis have recently been reviewed in a special issue of Acta Sociologica, and an excellent article by Mark Mizruchi (1994) introduces some of the basic themes and ideas. Many people, however, find this a daunting area to consider, being put off by the mathematics and not knowing quite how to begin to learn the ideas that they need for their applications. My aim in this paper is to indicate the basic tool kit that might be needed for undertaking a piece of social network analysis. Considered as a method, rather than as a substantive theory, social network analysis comprises a collection of techniques for the analysis of relational data. These relations may be interpersonal, economic, or political, and so on. Social network analysis provides a mathematical method for describing the structures of these relations as they are formed into social networks. At its simplest, points (perhaps representing people) are thought of as being connected by lines (representing their social relationships). The mathematical approach called graph theory is a way of analysing the formal properties of such graphs, and so the use of this mathematics allows researchers to construct formal models of social networks. It is through the use of graph theory that such ideas as the distance between two people, their relative centrality, the formation of cliques and the densities of whole networks can be measured. With the greater availability of computers, social network analysis has grown as an area, and a number of software packages are now available. With these, it is possible to compute, with great ease, things that a few years ago were impossible or very time-consuming. It is, however, difficult for newcomers to navigate through these packages, and most of the available books are of little help in guiding them. Anyone who seeks to undertake social network analysis will need the appropriate tool kit of handbooks and computer software. My purpose in this review is to indicate the main such tools available, for both novices and more advanced researchers. The major handbooks for social network analysis, that is, Scott (1992) and Wasserman & Faust (1994), were recently reviewed in the special issue
The
Scott, University of Essex, Wivenhoe Park, Colchester C04 3SQ, UK. @ Scandinavian 1996Downloaded from http://asj.sagepub.com by MATEI MARIAN on September 26, 2007 Sociological Association 1996 Scandinavian Sociological Association. All rights reserved. Not for commercial use or unauthorized
John
distribution.

212

of Acta Sociologica (Plotts 1994), and I will not consider them in detail again. It is, however, worth pointing out the difference of focus in the two books. I have to declare an immediate interest as the author, but I see Scott (1992) as particularly intended as a beginners guide that avoids too many mathematical technicalities. It introduces the basic ideas and principles of this area and gives an overview of procedures for handling social network analysis. Wasserman & Fausts book (1994), on the other hand, is a reference source for more advanced practitioners. It is written at an advanced level and is demanding reading. Anyone who has begun with Scott (1992), however, should be able to handle the book. There are other useful compendiums of techniques and conceptualizations, such as Freeman et al. (1992), Wasserman & Galaskiewicz (1994), Burt & Minor (1983), and Knoke & Kuklinski (1982), but none has the introductory aims or the broad sweep of the two handbooks that I have discussed.

1. Software for network analysis There are three major packages 1 GRADAP, STRUCTURE and UCINET.1

available for social network analysis

on

PCs:

GRADAP GRADAP has not changed since I last reviewed the program (Scott 1992: appendix), but both of the other programs have undergone major revisions. GRADAP remains a major package with powerful applications for many network purposes. Although I do not intend to repeat my original review here, it is worth summarising some of its principal features. GRADAP (the Graph Definition and Analysis Package) was converted for use on PCs from its original mainframe version, and still works in a batch mode. It will run on any IBM compatible computer with a mathematical co-processor, but is fastest on a 486 or Pentium machine. It is a fairly fast program, although it is first necessary to convert the data files into system files. Its files are set up in SPSS format, and it uses a command language that is based on that of SPSS. GRADAP operates with files in the form of point sets and line sets; these data files contain the basic information on the nodes and their connections. A major limitation of GRADAP is that the line set must be produced manually or from some other program, as it cannot accept direct sociometric input. Once created, however, the data set can be used for the analyses of subgraphs, centrality, adjacency and distance procedures, each being set up in an input file for batch processing. Thus, it is possible to explore cliques, components, and blocks, in directed and in undirected graphs, the relative centralities of the points, the density and overall centralization of the network, and, in directed graphs, the indegrees and outdegrees of the various points. For all its power, however, GRADAP is somewhat cumbersome and is not especially user-friendly. It has all the disadvantages of a pioneer, and it is unfortunate that its developers have been unable to produce a newer version of the program. Both STRUCTURE and UCINET, on the other hand, have gone through major revamps to produce versions that are more flexible and easier
to
use.
Downloaded from http://asj.sagepub.com by MATEI MARIAN on September 26, 2007 1996 Scandinavian Sociological Association. All rights reserved. Not for commercial use or unauthorized distribution.

213

STRUCTURE
STRUCTURE, version 4.2, is the latest release of a program that first appeared in 1975. Ronald Burt produced it for his own work on structural autonomy and has since expanded the original program into a powerful suite of programs. It is currently available in two different forms: a Basic Edition, which runs on any PC with 425K RAM and a Virtual Memory Edition, which requires a 386 or better computer with 1 Mb RAM and 5 Mb free disk space. The Basic Edition of the program is limited in the size of network (85 actors) that it can handle because it works exclusively in RAM, whereas the Virtual memory Edition swaps data back and forth to the hard disk and so can deal with larger networks (300 actors, or 999 actors with 53 Mb free on your hard disk). Users of the Virtual Memory Edition will have to exercise good housekeeping on their hard disks to keep enough space free. I have regularly upgraded my hard disk, but with the growing requirements of current programs I never seem to have more than a few Mb free. I have not tested the compatibility of STRUCTURE with disk compression software.2 Both versions are supplied with manuals and with an ASSISTANT program for preparing command files and a JEDIT program for handling data files. Like GRADAP, STRUCTURE runs in batch mode rather than interactively, and so it is necessary to set up an input command file, a data file, and an output file. The Basic program is loaded by typing sTRUC at the DOS prompt (there is no Windows version yet) and then, when prompted, entering the name of the input command file. This file tells STRUCTURE which data file to use, the particular analyses to perform, and the name of the output file in which the results are to be stored. To run the Virtual Memory edition, you type vsTRUC, and you are presented with a menu system that allows a degree of interactive use. The command file is simply a text file, produced on any text editor or with ASSISTANT, that comprises a number of separate command lines. The core lines are those that contain the DATA, NETWORK, and ANALYZE commands. These name the data file, describe the data and set out the particular procedures to use in the analysis. At its simplest, then, a command file contains just these three lines. More complex analyses can be undertaken by building sequences of these three lines, each ANALYZE command telling the program to carry out the analysis requested. An ANALYZE command on its own, however, simply performs default calculations, and the line will normally be preceded by specific commands and options. The program offers CLIQUES, POWER, POSITIONS, AUTONOMY, and other procedures, and the options include those for calculating density and other graph parameters. Data files are simple matrices and can be produced in any text editor, spreadsheet, or database package that is capable of writing an output matrix, or by using GRADAP to produce matrices for direct input to STRUCTURE. The provided JEDIT program, however, is a useful alternative. The ASSISTANT program compiles command files, but has in-built procedures for help in testing equivalence hypotheses and undertaking Monte Carlo analyses. The program itself is based around Burts ideas on cohesion, structural somewhat from and brokerage. This Downloaded from http://asj.sagepub.com by MATEI MARIAN on September 26, 2007 departs equivalence, prominence, range, 1996 Scandinavian Sociological Association. All rights reserved. Not for commercial use or unauthorized
distribution.

214

assumptions of graph theory that underpin GRADAP and UCINET. The command, for example, is used to undertake analyses of structural equivalence, while AUTONOMY performs analyses of structural autonomy and constraint.3 Most of the procedures are unchanged from the earlier version, though they work more rapidly and more smoothly. The program can also be run in an error-checking mode that checks the syntax of commands and the format of the data files. This saves the program going into a lengthy run, only to crash because of a syntax error deep in the command file. I have not tested the program for speed on varying networks, but Burt claims that a fairly complex set of procedures on a 59-person network will load and run in 34 seconds in the BASIC Edition and in 47 seconds in the Virtual Memory edition. This difference is largely because of the time taken up in setting-up the virtual memory files. There is, then, a slight time penalty in using the Virtual Memory edition on small data sets, but this is outweighed by the possibilities that it offers for analysing large data sets.
POSITIONS

the

UCINET

originated at the University of California, Irvine (UCI), and is now marketed by Analytical Technologies. Its authors, Stephen Borgatti, Martin Everett and Linton Freeman, are to be congratulated for producing what is, to my mind, the best of the three programs under review and the one that is most accessible for the novice. Version 3 consisted of a set of modules that operated as a cluster of independent programs on the same data files. Version 4 has dispensed with this approach and is now a completely integrated interactive package. It now operates through a menu interface, and it is simply necessary to load a data set and then choose analytical procedures from the menu bar. The basic version, like its predecessor, runs on virtually any PC, the advanced variant of Version 4 requires a 386 or better and at least 1.5 Mb of RAM. The program operates with virtual memory wherever appropriate, trading off speed against size of matrix. The basic version claims to handle 500 points for basic clique procedures and 180 points for multidimensional scaling. The main menu offers DATASETS, NETWORKS and MATRICES options, as well as various disk housekeeping procedures. UCINET 4 data files differ from their Version 3 counterparts, though they are still in simple matrix format and still consist of simple alphanumeric files. Each of the main lines in a file represents a row in an incidence or adjacency matrix, but the first lines contain codes for the number of rows and columns and their labels. The program contains in-built procedures for converting earlier UCINET data files into an appropriate format. It will also convert STRUCTURE files. New data files can be created with the spreadsheet-style data entry system, using the linked list format. In this format, it is simply necessary to enter, for each point, all other points to which it is connected. This procedure is found in the SPREADSHEET option of the NETWORK entry on the menu bar. The file can be edited after data entry and various permutations and transformations can be performed on the data file in order to identify subsets for further analysis. The rows and the columns can be permutated, for example, or the weightings of lines can be altered by dichotomizing the Downloaded from http://asj.sagepub.com by MATEI MARIAN on September 26, 2007 matrix. 1996 Scandinavian Sociological Association. All rights reserved. Not for commercial use or unauthorized
UCINET
distribution.

215

satisfactory data set has been produced, it can then be subjected procedures. Cliques, for example, are analysed through using the SUBGRAPHS option, which is found in the TRANSFORM section of the NETWORK menu. This procedure allows, for example, the search for n-cliques
Once
a

to the basic UCINET

and sends a summary of the output to the screen. The full output is written to log file and can be read on screen or printed out. Options available within UCINET allow measures of adjacency, centrality, distance, and so on, as well as clique and cluster procedures, and a number of variant measures are generally available for each of these procedures. Very limited plotting of data is possible from within UCINET, although it had originally been intended to include Borgattis useful little GROUP program as a component of UCINET. Fortunately, Analytic Technologies have also made available a separate program called KRACKPLOT, produced by David Krackhardt, Mark Lundberg and Laura ORourke. This is an excellent program with an add-on that converts UCINET files, and it will plot them on the screen using multidimensional scaling procedures. Once plotted, they can be labelled and altered in various ways and can be printed using a laser or dot matrix printer. The next step in network analysis packages must, surely, be to incorporate some of the plotting and transformation procedures available in wire-frame graphics programs. Until then, KRACKPLOT is an essential adjunct to UCINET.
a

2. Conclusion

Any choice of tool kit will be a matter of personal preference, but some guidelines can be given. The starter kit for newcomers and those interested in basic applications of network analysis, with the emphasis on ease of use, might be the Scott (1992) handbook and the UCINET software. Both are constructed around ideas from graph theory, though both also range more widely, and almost any network tasks can be undertaken with the UCINET program. Those who mainly handle small data sets and who find visual representation useful should consider adding KRACKPLOT to the tool kit. A
more advanced tool kit would need the Wasserman & Faust (1994) reference handbook and STRUCTURE, in addition. Although GRADAP is now a little dated, it still has much to offer for those pursuing conventional graph theoretical analyses, and would also be a good addition to the advanced tool kit.

First version received September 1995 Final version accepted November 1995 Notes

1 So far as I am aware, there are no social network analysis programs available for Apple Macs. The three packages considered here run on IBM and compatible machines. Availability is as follows: GRADAP, Release 2.1, disks and manual, distributed by iec ProGAMMA, Kraneweg 8, 9718 JP, Gröningen, The Netherlands; STRUCTURE, Basic Edition, Release 4.2, disks and manuals, distributed by Professor R. Burt, Department of Sociology, University of Downloaded from http://asj.sagepub.com by MATEI MARIAN Illinois on September 26, 2007 59th 1126 East 60637, USA, $50 Street, Chicago, Chicago, 1996 Scandinavian Sociological Association. All rights reserved. Not for commercial use or unauthorized
distribution.

216

($125 for Virtual Memory Edition); UCINET, Release 4.0, disks and manual, distributed by Analytic Technologies, 306 S. Walker Street, Columbia, SC29205, USA. 2 The earlier version of STRUCTURE had difficulties running on some hard disks, but these problems have now been overcome. 3 These ideas are discussed in Burt (1982).
References Burt, R. 1982. Toward a Structural Theory of Action. New York: Academic Press. Burt, R. & Minor 1983. Applied Network Analysis: A Methodological Introduction. Beverly Hills: Sage. Freeman, L. C., White, D. R. & Romney, A. K. (eds) 1992. Research Methods in Social Network Analysis. New Brunswick: Transaction. Knoke, D. & Kuklinski, J. H. 1982. Network Analysis. Beverly Hills:
M. 1994. Social Network Analysis: Recent Achievements and Current Controversies. Acta Sociologica 37, 329-343. Plotts, B. P. 1994. Review of Scott (1992) and Wasserman and Faust (1994). Acta Sociologica 37, 419-423. Scott, J. 1992. Social Network Analysis: A Handbook. London: Sage. Wasserman, S. & Faust, K. 1994. Social Network Analysis: Methods and Applications. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Wasserman, S. & Galaskiewicz, J. (eds) 1994. Advances in Social Network Analysis . Beverly Hills: Sage.

Sage. Mizruchi,

Downloaded from http://asj.sagepub.com by MATEI MARIAN on September 26, 2007 1996 Scandinavian Sociological Association. All rights reserved. Not for commercial use or unauthorized distribution.