title: Network analysis in the social sciences.
abstract: Over the past decade, there has been an explosion of interest in network research across the physical and social sciences. For social scientists, the theory of networks has been a gold mine, yielding explanations for social phenomena in a wide variety of disciplines from psychology to economics. Here, we review the kinds of things that social scientists have tried to explain using social network analysis and provide a nutshell description of the basic assumptions, goals, and explanatory mechanisms prevalent in the field. We hope to contribute to a dialogue among researchers from across the physical and social sciences who share a common interest in understanding the antecedents and consequences of network phenomena.
authors.affiliation: LINKS Center for Network Research in Business, Gatton College of Business and Economics, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506-0034, USA. sborgatti@uky.edu
authors.forename: Stephen P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Borgatti
authors.forename: Ajay
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mehra
authors.forename: Daniel J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Brass
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Labianca
mesh_terms: D035841:Behavioral Research; D019058:Community Networks; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D011582:Psychological Theory; D012942:Social Sciences / Q000639:trends; D012944:Social Support