Social Networks

Social networks is a field of study that focuses on the pattern, or structure, of relations among a set of actors. For example, while traditional explanations of career success often focus on a person's training or education, a social network perspective would emphasize his or her connections to others within an organization. Similarly, while leadership is often thought of as a set of personal abilities and skills, a social network analysis would focus on the leader's relations with othersfor example, the relations between the leader and his or her followers or the bridging role the leader provides to outside groups both of which might enhance or inhibit the leader's effectiveness.

To understand how social network analysis is different from other perspectives on social phenomena, it is ...