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Social Networks: Agent-based Modelling and Social Network Analysis with PAJEK

Social Networks: Agent-based Modelling and Social Network Analysis with PAJEK. Richard Taylor¹ and Gindo Tampubolon² ¹Centre for Policy Modelling, Manchester Metropolitan University ²Centre for Research on Innovation and Competition, University of Manchester.

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Social Networks: Agent-based Modelling and Social Network Analysis with PAJEK

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  1. Social Networks:Agent-based Modelling and Social Network Analysis with PAJEK Richard Taylor¹ and Gindo Tampubolon² ¹Centre for Policy Modelling, Manchester Metropolitan University ²Centre for Research on Innovation and Competition, University of Manchester ESRC Research Methods Festival, Oxford, 17th-20th July 2006, & Oxford Spring School, Dept. of Politics and International Relations

  2. Methodology of ABM • Objectives: • Characterisation of possible outcomes rather than prediction • Understanding of processes that lead to outcomes • Steps • Problem formulation: observations, hypotheses, theory • Abstraction to create conceptual model (expressed as equations, set theory notation, or precise description) • ABM implementation • Design of experiments (parameter choices, batch sizes) • … continued

  3. Methodology of ABM (2) • Steps • Analysis of results. Verification of implementation • Comparison of simulation outcomes with observations and/or with analytical solutions • Validation step - cross validation on both the micro-behaviours and the macro outcomes / signatures • (steps are iterated) • Additional steps: • Model docking and different grains of analysis • Dissemination in sufficient reproducible detail

  4. When using real networks as inputs to an ABM • Do network structural dynamics seem important or not? • Are there any longitudinal data on how networks evolve? • Are there any findings/descriptions of how they evolve?

  5. When using simulation-generated networks • Are they emerging from some sociologically-founded process? • Use with care random / regular / small-world / scale-free graphs which although convenient may not be appropriate models • What are the appropriate measures by which generated networks could be analysed?

  6. When using networks and grids • Spatial grids are commonly used because for many types of interaction, spatial location is important • Grid models are relatively easy to set up • Network models can also be placed on a grid • Consider, • Is there sufficient justification for doing so? • What additional complexity is thus generated?

  7. Discussion point Typically we ask: What network types emerge from different social processes? Based on generative ABM, similarly we might ask: How do existing networks constrain social processes?

  8. PAJEK vs. UCINET • Similarities and differences between PAJEK and UCINET: • UCINET is free-to-try whereas PAJEK is free • UCINET is an older project, more widely used and better integrated with other software • Both software are supposed to import and export both file types (but I have found this doesn’t work) • DRAW / NETDRAW are plug-ins for these packages that do network visualisations via several layout algorithms

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