Theory and method in macro-comparative social network analysis

Scholars have long suspected the importance of social networks (Emerson 1972; Simmel 1908 [1971]). Networks facilitate the flow of information across large populations (Milgram 1967; Watts 2003). They confer positional advantages to central actors (Freeman 1979) or to those whose network partners may be centrally located (Bonacich 1987). In other instances, power derives from those whose partners are relatively isolated (Bonacich 1987; Cook et al. 1983) or who are resource dependent (Cook 1977; Emerson 1962; Molm 1990). Networks are even thought to benefit those who have access to nonredundant information via structural holes (Burt 1997, 2004) and weak ties (Granovetter 1973). Over time, as network analysis evolved, studies moved beyond dyadic exchange (for example, Cook and Emerson 1978) and interpersonal relations (for example, Cook 1977) to tackle larger and more complex networks at higher levels of abstraction. In particular, network actors were not only individuals operating within small groups, but were also organizations, cities (Taylor 2004) or countries (Galtung 1971) that were tied to one another through affiliations or the exchange of valued resources. Moreover, analysts developed utilized methods to identify multiple actors within the same network that occupy structurally similar roles or positions (Snyder and Kick 1979).