Concepts of Graph

Theory
Social Networks; Lecture 2
 Summary

• Graph representation of social networks

• Matrix representation of social networks

• Node degree; average degree; degree distribution

• Graph density

• Walks, trails and paths

• Cutpoits, cutsets and bridges

 What is a Network?

• A set of dyadic ties, all of the same type,among a

set of actors
• Actors can be persons, organizations ...
• A tie is an instance of a social relation
 Relations Among Persons

• Kinship
– Mother of, father of, sibling of
• Role-Based
– Boss of, teacher of
– Friend Of
• Affective
– Likes, trusts
• Interactions
– Gives advice to; talks to; sexual interactions
• Affiliations
 Content and Coding Matter!

• Each relation yields a different structure

and has different effects
• In real data, more then one relation
should be studied.

• Coding:
– What constitutes an edge?
– How to convert interview data into graph data?
Example
Problem Reformulation
 Graph Theoretic Concepts

• Consists of a collection of nodes and

lines
G = N, L
N={n1 , n2 , n3 ...ng }
L = {l1 , l2 , l3 ...lL }

• Lines also called “ties” or “edges”

• Nodes occasionally called “agents” or
“actors”
Directed and Undirected
Ties
• •Undirected relations
Attended meeting with...
• Communicated with...
• Friend of...
• •Directed relations
Represent flows or subordination
• “Lends money to”, “teacher Of”
• •Problem -
Ties that should be symmetric can be measured as non-
symmetric due to measurement error
• Friendship relations are not always reciprocal
 Tie Strength

• We can attach values to ties, representing

quantitative attributes
• Strength of relationship
• Frequency of communication
• Information capacity/bandwidth
• Physical distance
• Such graph is called “weighted graph”
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 Node Degree
• Degree of a node is a number of lines that
connect it to other nodes
• Degree can be interpreted as
• measure of power or importance of a node
• or
• measure of workload
• In directed graphs:
• indegree: number of incoming edges
• outdegree: number of outgoing edges
 Marriage Ties Among
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Degree Distribution
 Graph Density

• Defined as ratio of number of edges in the

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 Density and Network Survival:
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• Maximal sets of nodes in which every node

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 Walks, Trails, Paths

• Walk = a sequence of nodes that can be

visited by following edges
• Trail = walk with no repeated lines
• Path = walk with no repeated node
Seven Bridges of
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Path Length & Distance

• Length of path = number of links

• Length of shortest path between two nodes =
distance or “geodesic”
• Longest geodesic between any two nodes
• = graph diameter
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 Bridges
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• Degree to which network revolves around a

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 Next Time

• Centrality and Power in Social Networks

• Identification of Key Players