3.4 Social network analysis: a handbook by John Scott

The first edition of Social Network Analysis: A Handbook by John Scott was published in 1991 and "provides an accessible introduction to the theory and practice of network analysis in the social sciences. It gives a clear and authoritative guide to the general framework of network analysis, explaining the basic concepts and technical measures, and reviewing the available computer programs" (Scott 1991, Blurb).

The revised and current edition (2000) contains updated information especially concerning the newer developments in computer software packages. Scott (2000) emphasizes that, like with the first edition, he “tried to simplify the techniques of social network analysis in order to make it accessible to newcomers” (Scott 2000, Preface), who do not have distinguished competence in the field of mathematics, with which social network analysis is strongly related. Changes in the new edition have especially been made in regards to techniques of visualization and network representation which have developed significantly since 1991. Chapter 3 “Handling Relational Data” is therefore one of the most interesting chapters for newcomers. In the appendix, Scott furthermore provides a review of the current social network packages such as GRADAP, STRUCTURE and UCINET (for basic information about function and availability see Section 5). Keywords for all programs are, amongst others, “centrality”, “sub-groups”, “adjacency” and “distance”, which describe the quality of relationship ties and are visualized differently in sociograms. This implies that to use these software packages one must first acquire background knowledge regarding such aspects. Scott (2000) as well as Hanneman (2005) provide a good overview for this purpose.

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