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1 Introduction To Network Analysis-Network Basics - Jasmine Mondolo

This document provides an introduction to network analysis, including basic concepts and network structure. It outlines the schedule for a course on network analysis, covering topics such as nodes and edges, directed and undirected networks, weighted and unweighted networks, examples of real-world networks, and ways to represent network data. It also defines key network concepts like paths, shortest paths, connectedness, hubs, and different types of subnetworks.

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diego.gonzalez.delgado
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17 views

1 Introduction To Network Analysis-Network Basics - Jasmine Mondolo

This document provides an introduction to network analysis, including basic concepts and network structure. It outlines the schedule for a course on network analysis, covering topics such as nodes and edges, directed and undirected networks, weighted and unweighted networks, examples of real-world networks, and ways to represent network data. It also defines key network concepts like paths, shortest paths, connectedness, hubs, and different types of subnetworks.

Uploaded by

diego.gonzalez.delgado
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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A gentle introduction to network

analysis

Part 1-Basic concepts

Jasmine Mondolo
[email protected]
Main topics (23.11 > 07.12)

• Introduction to network analysis (basic concepts and network


structure)

• Some economic applications of network analysis (e.g., the network of


international trade)

• Network analysis applied to patent data


Schedule

• 23.11, 15.30-18.30, T3
• 24.11, 10.00-13.00, T3
• 29.11, 15.30-17.30, T7
• 30.11, 15.30-18.30, T3
• 01.12, 10.00-13.00, T3
• 05.12, 10.00-13.00, T3
• 06.12, 15.30-17.30, T7
Definition of networks

• A graph/network* is basically a collection of nodes/vertices and


edges/links/ties. The nodes are the individuals/actors, the “entities” of the
network, while the edges are the connections/relationships between the
nodes

The hinge of networks is interdependence

*mathematical + sociological influence


Nodes and edges

• Nodes [nodes’ attributes]


generally one type of nodes
(one-mode network)

• Edges tangible/intangible
weighted/unweighted
directed/undirected

Visual representation: sociogram (Moreno, 1934; Cartwright and Harary, 1977)


Directed and undirected networks
Unweighted and weighted networks
Examples of networks

• Social networks* (including online communities; Facebook vs Twitter)

• Economic networks (real, such as trade and FDI networks, production


networks, network of firms, or financial, such as credit default swaps/CDS
networks or interbank networks)

• Technological networks (e.g., the World Wide Web, the Internet, transportation
networks)

• Natural-world networks (e.g., metabolic networks, food networks, disease


networks, neural networks within the brain)

Networks are often regarded as «webs without spiders»


Examples of networks

Metabolic network (Delplanke et al., 2018) Food network (Little Rock Lake, WI, USA; Yoon et al., 2005)
Examples of networks

Network of friendships in Facebook Network of terrorists involved in the attack of 11.09.2001 (www.orgnet.com)
Examples of networks
Map of World Trade in Goods as a Geographical Network (major two export partners), 2007

Note: for each country, only the export flows toward the first and second trade partner are considered. Country
labels are the iso3 country codes. The size of the circle associated with each country is proportional to the number of
inflows. Different colors correspond to different geographical regions. Trade data come from BACI-CEPII dataset.
A real-world example: Apollo 13 Movie Network

This is the network of the main actors starring in the Apollo 13


movie

Connections between pairs of actors are


based on the previous participation
to at least another movie
Adjacency list
• If an edge exists between nodes, we say they are adjacent

• The relationships in a network can be described by an adjacency list


Adjacency matrix
Another representation: the adjacency matrix

It is a nxn matrix (n= number of nodes); in the case of undirected networks,


it is symmetric
Adjacency matrix
Some additional simple examples
Paths and Shortest Path Lengths
• Path: series of steps from one node to another in a network, without
repetition

• Shortest Path (Length): the shortest route/path connecting two nodes


• It is also called geodesic distance
• The longest among all the shortest
path lengths is called diameter
Connectedness
• Two nodes are connected if there is a path between them

• A network is connected if there is a path between every pair of nodes (vs


disconnected network: there are at least two groups –components- of nodes that
are not connected to each other)

• [Directed networks can be strongly or weakly connected]


• Networks exhibit different levels of connectedness/connectivity
Hubs, bridges and Subnetworks
• A hub is a node with a high number of edges

• A bridge is a node which,if removed,makes the network disconnected («rigorous»


definition)

• A subnetwork is simply any subset of nodes and edges in a graph

• Three particular types of subnetworks: cliques, clusters and egocentric networks


Cliques

A collection of nodes that are all directly connected to one another


Clustering and clusters

• A cluster is a group of nodes that are tightly connected (typically, more


than the network is as a whole), typically on the basis of some common
attribute(s)

• Various reasons for clustering, depending on the type of network


• Large literature on the origins, diffusion, performance etc. of industrial
clusters/districts

• Related concept in social contexts: homophily (“birds of a feather flock


together”) tendency of individuals to form tightly knit groups with other
individuals displaying a/some certain feature/s
• Possible causes: gender, age, occupation, education level, social status, ethnicity, political
preferences…
Egocentric Networks
• The egocentric network of a node is a type of subnetwork which specifically
maps the connections of and from the perspective of a certain focal node (the
“ego”)

• D’s egocentric network of degree/depth 1 we have gone one step from the focal
node to its “alters” or (nearest) neighbors

• D’s egocentric network of degree 1.5 we have gone one step out from D to get
all of the nodes it is connected to, and then we have made an extra half step by
putting in the connections between D’s alters

• We may also consider the D’s egocentric network of degree 2 (it goes two steps out from D,
i.e., alters + the alters of the alters), of degree 2.5, 3 etc.
NOTE: sometimes the expression “egocentric network of degree 1” refers also to the edges
between the ego’s alters (/alters of alters for degree 2 and so on)
What we learnt so far

• Definition of networks and of its main elements


• Weighted vs unweighted networks
• Directed vs undirected networks
• Real-world examples of networks
• Data representation of networks (sociogram, adjacency list, adjacency
matrix)
• Connected vs adjacent nodes
• Connected vs disconnected networks
• Paths and shortest paths
• Hubs
• Subnetworks (including cliques, clusters and egocentric networks)

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