REDES: Revista Hispana para el Análisis de Redes Sociales (Aug 2005)
Análisis de Redes Sociales mediante Diagramas Estratégicos y Diagramas Estructurales
Abstract
The aim of the present work is to define a theoretical framework which facilitates the analysis of the structure of a network at an individual level. To this end, we propose the integration of co-word analysis together with the analysis of social networks. As a result of this study, a series of diagrams called “structural diagrams” has been obtained. Thanks to these diagrams a pattern can be assigned to each node of the network, and a network can be classified into a set of typologies. The information provided by this theoretical framework will allow a deeper understanding of the dynamics of systems, modeled in the form of networks. In this context, structural diagrams technique improves strategies of the visual exploration of the networks as well as to orientate the definition of those procedures which enable the transformation of one typology of network into another. As a specific example of a real application of this theoretical framework, the social network of the Journal of Software Engineering and Databases (JISBD) scientific community has been analyzed, based on its co-authorship networks.