Part 1. Development of a Methodology for Network
Research on Social Cohesion
Longitudinal Network
Studies and Predictive Social Cohesion Theory D.R. WHITE, University of
California Irvine, BCS-9978282
An
operational definition of social cohesion based on network
connectivity measures cohesiveness as the minimum number k of actors whose absence
would disconnect a group. Two members of a
group with cohesion level k automatically have at least k different ways of
being connected through independent paths.
A test of the measure is exemplified by successful prediction of
how a group, studied longitudinally during a period of conflict between leaders,
divides into two (Fig 1), based on cohesion and distance.
Reference:
2001 Douglas R. White and Frank Harary, The Cohesiveness of Blocks
in Social Networks:
Fig 1. Snapshot of
friendships at an early point in time in a longitudinal study of friendship in a Karate club, with leaders labeled T and A
and levels of cohesion coded by color. When members with ties to both leaders T and A are forced to
choose between them, two distinct-cohesive sets form that are the basis of the partitioning of the club
into two.
Data source: Wayne Zachary, 1977. An Information
Flow Model for
Conflict and Fission in Small Groups. Journal of Anthropological Research 33:452-73.
Connectivity: Blue=4 Red=3 Green=2 Yellow=1