CONCEPTS AND METHODS IN SOCIAL NETWORK ANALYSIS - AN OVERVIEW OF RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

In the course of the past decades, a research paradigm has emerged und er the label ''network analysis'' that is impressive primarily because of its manifold analytical concepts and methods of analysis of relati onal - as distinguished from attributive - data. This article aims at giving an overview of some of the methodological problems and possible solutions tied to social network analysis. Besides the better known d escriptive analytical strategies of data reduction we also discuss mor e recent approaches that allow statistical testing and make it possibl e to analyse relational and attributive data at the same time. Finally , some practical concerns are touched on such as, for instance, furthe r readings and available software.