Content deleted Content added
m similartiy fix |
Rescuing 6 sources and tagging 0 as dead.) #IABot (v2.0.9.3 |
||
Line 1:
{{Short description|Analytical method for social structure}}
{{Network Science}}
'''Blockmodeling''' is a set or a coherent [[Conceptual framework|framework]], that is used for analyzing [[social structure]] and also for setting procedure(s) for partitioning (clustering) [[social network]]'s units ([[Node (computer science)|nodes]], [[vertice]]s, [[social actor|actors]]), based on specific patterns, which form a distinctive structure through interconnectivity.<ref>[[Patrick Doreian]], Positional Analysis and Blockmodeling. ''Encyclopedia of Complexity and Systems Science''. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-30440-3_412 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230204160352/https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/978-0-387-30440-3_412 |date=2023-02-04 }}.</ref><ref name="Examples, 1999, pp. 5–34">[[Patrick Doreian]], An Intuitive Introduction to Blockmodeling with Examples, ''BMS: Bulletin of Sociological Methodology'' / ''Bulletin de Méthodologie Sociologique'', January, 1999, No. 61 (January, 1999), pp. 5–34.</ref> It is primarily used in [[statistics]], [[machine learning]] and [[network science]].
As an [[empirical procedure]], blockmodeling assumes that all the units in a specific network can be grouped together to such extent to which they are equivalent. Regarding equivalency, it can be structural, regular or generalized.<ref name="mrvar.fdv.uni-lj.si">[[Anuška Ferligoj]]: Blockmodeling, http://mrvar.fdv.uni-lj.si/sola/info4/nusa/doc/blockmodeling-2.pdf {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210812085918/http://mrvar.fdv.uni-lj.si/sola/info4/nusa/doc/blockmodeling-2.pdf |date=2021-08-12 }}</ref> Using blockmodeling, a [[Social network|network]] can be analyzed using newly created [[blockmodel]]s, which transforms large and complex network into a smaller and more comprehensible one. At the same time, the blockmodeling is used to operationalize [[social role]]s.
While some contend that the blockmodeling is just clustering methods, [[Phillip Bonacich|Bonacich]] and [[Maureen J. McConaghy|McConaghy]] state that "it is a theoretically grounded and algebraic approach to the analysis of the structure of relations". Blockmodeling's unique ability lies in the fact that it considers the structure not just as a set of direct relations, but also takes into account all other possible compound relations that are based on the direct ones.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bonacich |first1=Phillip |last2=McConaghy |first2=Maureen J. |date=1980 |title=The Algebra of Blockmodeling |url= |journal=Sociological Methodology |volume=11 |issue= |pages=489–532 |doi=10.2307/270873 }}</ref>
The principles of blockmodeling were first introduced by [[Francois Lorrain]] and [[Harrison C. White]] in 1971.<ref name="Examples, 1999, pp. 5–34"/> Blockmodeling is considered as "an important set of network analytic tools" as it deals with delineation of role structures (the well-defined places in social structures, also known as positions) and the discerning the fundamental structure of social networks.<ref name="gener-black">{{Cite book |last1=Doreian |first1=Patrick |last2=Batagelj |first2=Vladimir |last3=Ferligoj |first3=Anuška |title=Generalized Blackmodeling |publisher=Cambridge University Press |date=2005 |isbn=0-521-84085-6}}</ref>{{rp|2, 3}} According to [[Vladimir Batagelj|Batagelj]], the primary "goal of blockmodeling is to reduce a large, potentially incoherent network to a smaller comprehensible structure that can be interpreted more readily".<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Batagelj |first1=Vladimir |date=1999 |title=Generalized Blockmodeling |url= |journal=Informatica |volume=23 |issue= |pages=501–506 |doi=}}</ref> Blockmodeling was at first used for analysis in [[sociometry]] and [[psychometrics]], but has now spread also to other sciences.<ref>
== Definition ==
Line 50:
'''Blockmodels''' (sometimes also '''block models''') are structures in which:
* vertices (e.g., units, [[node (computer network)|nodes]]) are assembled within a [[Cluster analysis|cluster]], with each cluster identified as a [[Vertex (graph theory)|vertex]]; from such vertices a [[Graph (discrete mathematics)|graph]] can be constructed;
* combinations of all the links (ties), represented in a block as a single link between positions, while at the same time constructing one tie for each block. In a case, when there are no ties in a block, there will be no ties between the two positions that define the block.<ref>[[Patrick Doreian]], Positional Analysis and Blockmodeling. ''Encyclopedia of Complexity and Systems Science''. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-30440-3_412 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230204160352/https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/978-0-387-30440-3_412 |date=2023-02-04 }}.</ref>
Computer programs can partition the social network according to pre-set conditions.<ref name="Exploratory">{{Cite book |last1=Nooy |first1=Wouter de |last2=Mrvar |first2=Andrej |last3=Batagelj |first3=Vladimir |title=Exploratory Social Network Analysis with Pajek. Revised and Expanded Edition for Updated Software. Third Edition |publisher=Cambridge University Press |date=2018 |isbn=978-1-108-47414-6}}</ref>{{rp|333}} When empirical blocks can be reasonably approximated in terms of ideal blocks, such blockmodels can be reduced to a '''blockimage''', which is a representation of the original network, capturing its underlying 'functional anatomy'.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Nordlund |first1=Carl |date=2019 |title=Direct blockmodeling of valued and binary networks: a dichotomization-free approach |url= |journal=Social Networks |volume= 61|issue= |pages= 128–143|doi=10.1016/j.socnet.2019.10.004|arxiv=1910.10484|s2cid=204838377 }}</ref> Thus, blockmodels can "permit the data to characterize their own structure", and at the same time not seek to manifest a preconceived structure imposed by the researcher.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Arabie |first1=Phipps |last2=Boorman |first2=Scott A. |last3=Levitt |first3=Paul R. |date=1978 |title=Constructing Blockmodels: How and Why |url= |journal=Journal of Mathematical Psychology |volume=17 |issue= |pages=21–63 |doi=10.2307/270873|jstor=270873 }}</ref>
Blockmodels can be created indirectly or directly, based on the construction of the [[criterion function]]. Indirect construction refers to a function, based on "compatible (dis)similarity measure between paris of units", while the direct construction is "a function measuring the fit of real blocks induced by a given [[Cluster analysis|clustering]] to the corresponding ideal blocks with perfect relations within each cluster and between clusters according to the considered types of connections ([[Equivalence relation|equivalence]])".<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Batagelj |first1=Vladimir |last2=Mrvar |first2=andrej |last3=Ferligoj |first3=Anuška |last4=Doreian |first4=Patrick |date=2004 |title=Generalized Blockmodeling with Pajek |url=
=== Types ===
Blockmodels can be specified regarding the [[intuition]], [[wikt:substance|substance]] or the insight into the nature of the studied network; this can result in such models as follows:<ref name="gener-black"
* [[parent-child role]] systems,
* [[organizational hierarchy|organizational hierarchies]],
Line 65:
== Specialized programs ==
Blockmodeling is done with specialized [[computer program]]s, dedicated to the analysis of networks or blockmodeling in particular, as:
* '''BLOCKS''' ([[Tom Snijders]]),<ref name="stats.ox.ac.uk">
* '''[[CONCOR]]''',<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Steiber |first1=Steven R. |date=1981 |title=Building better blockmodels: A non–hierarchical extension of CONCOR with applications to regression analysis |url= |journal=Mid–American Review of Sociology |volume=VI |issue= |pages=17–40 |doi=}}</ref>
* '''Model''' ([[Vladimir Batagelj]]),<ref name="Generalized Blockmodeling with Paje">{{cite journal |last1=Batagelj |first1=Vladimir |last2=Mrvar |first2=Andrej |last3=Ferligoj |first3=Anuška |last4=Doreian |first4=Patrick |date=2004 |title=Generalized Blockmodeling with Pajek |url= |journal=Metodološki zvezki |volume=1 |issue=2 |pages=455–467 |doi=}}</ref>
| |||