Social Network Analysis - John Scott

Bridging the gap between theory and practice, this handbook gives an accessible introduction to network analysis in the social sciences. As a refreshing contrast to the existing literature on social networks, it does not use complex mathematics, but introduces the reader to the general framework of social network analysis, outlining the basic concepts, technical measures and available computer programs in a clear and comprehensible way.
The concepts of points, lines and paths are defined and used to clarify such measures as density, fragmentation and centralization. The various cliques, components and circles into which networks are formed are identified and an approach to the study of social structured positions is outlined. The use of multidimensional methods for investigating social networks is also discussed.

John Scott is an Honorary Professor at the Universities of Essex, Exeter, and Copenhagen. He was formerly a professor of sociology at the Universities of Essex and Leicester, and pro-vice-chancellor for research at the University of Plymouth. He has been president of the British Sociological Association, Chair of the Sociology Section of the British Academy, and in 2013 was awarded the CBE for Services to Social Science. His work covers theoretical sociology, the history of sociology, elites and social stratification, and social network analysis. His most recent books include British Social Theory: Recovering Lost Traditions before 1950 (SAGE, 2018), Envisioning Sociology. Victor Branford, Patrick Geddes, and the Quest for Social Reconstruction (with Ray Bromley, SUNY Press, 2013), Objectivity and Subjectivity in Social Research (with Gayle Letherby and Malcolm Williams, SAGE, 2011).

`John Scott provides a good guide to doing social network analysis. He shows what measures to use and how to obtain them. He gives a juidicious summary of recent research findings and a useful account of how network analysis developed. This book is essential for those who want to keep up with - and move forward with - the field.' - Professor Barry Wellman University of Toronto

`John Scott's Social Network Analysis: A Handbook fills a gap between simplist introductions and inaccessibly technical treatments. The increasing popularity of these methods warrants a solid introductory text, which Scott's book admirably provides. he guides novice network analysts unerringly through the thicket of terms and techniques. The numerous diagrams are especially helpful in illuminating nuances. The substantive examples remind us of the range of practical applications for network research. After absorbing all of Social Network Analysis' lessons, the reader will be well-prepared to move on to more challenging expositions.' - David Knoke, University of Minnesota

`This text is a well-written and accessible discourse that traces the historical development of SNA and proceeds to describe and exemplify its principal techniques and procedures. The book is predicated on the view that many researchers who would find SNA useful are put off by the mathematical aspects of these techniques and procedures. Scott seeks to overcome this fear through clear exposition and exemplification and in this he is, in the estimation of this non-specialist, about 80 per cent successful.... Scott's remarkable clarity of style and purpose.... The text is described with arguably misplaced modesty as `a handbook'. It seems much more that this. The author's enthusiasm for his subject shines through - an all too rare feature of research methodology texts.... is a voyage of discovery, a useful book that demands attentiveness on the part of the reader and is both rewarding and stimulating in return.... Those involved in the study of organizational behaviour, corporate culture, networking and human resource management issues in general would benefit from a clear understanding of what this method entails. John Scott's book offers just such an understanding and it is hoped that it reaches at least some non-specialist audiences: it thoroughly deserves to.' - The Service Industries Journal