An Algorithm and Metric for Network Decomposition from Similarity Matrices: Application to Positional Analyses

We present an algorithm for decomposing a social network into an optimal number of structurally equivalent classes. The k-means method is used to determine the best decomposition of the social network for various numbers of subgroups. The best number of subgroups into which to decompose a network is...

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Main Authors: Hsieh, Mo-Han, Magee, Christopher L.
Format: Working Paper
Language:en_US
Published: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Engineering Systems Division 2016
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/102890
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author Hsieh, Mo-Han
Magee, Christopher L.
author_facet Hsieh, Mo-Han
Magee, Christopher L.
author_sort Hsieh, Mo-Han
collection MIT
description We present an algorithm for decomposing a social network into an optimal number of structurally equivalent classes. The k-means method is used to determine the best decomposition of the social network for various numbers of subgroups. The best number of subgroups into which to decompose a network is determined by minimizing the intra-cluster variance of similarity subject to the constraint that the improvement in going to more subgroups is better than a random network would achieve. We also describe a decomposability metric that assesses how closely the derived decomposition approaches an ideal network having only structurally equivalent classes. Three well known network data sets were used to demonstrate the algorithm and decomposability metric. These demonstrations indicate the utility of the approach and suggest how it can be used in a complementary way to the Generalized Blockmodeling.
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spelling mit-1721.1/1028902019-04-12T16:24:35Z An Algorithm and Metric for Network Decomposition from Similarity Matrices: Application to Positional Analyses Hsieh, Mo-Han Magee, Christopher L. We present an algorithm for decomposing a social network into an optimal number of structurally equivalent classes. The k-means method is used to determine the best decomposition of the social network for various numbers of subgroups. The best number of subgroups into which to decompose a network is determined by minimizing the intra-cluster variance of similarity subject to the constraint that the improvement in going to more subgroups is better than a random network would achieve. We also describe a decomposability metric that assesses how closely the derived decomposition approaches an ideal network having only structurally equivalent classes. Three well known network data sets were used to demonstrate the algorithm and decomposability metric. These demonstrations indicate the utility of the approach and suggest how it can be used in a complementary way to the Generalized Blockmodeling. 2016-06-03T01:19:13Z 2016-06-03T01:19:13Z 2007-02 Working Paper http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/102890 en_US ESD Working Papers;ESD-WP-2007-13 application/pdf Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Engineering Systems Division
spellingShingle Hsieh, Mo-Han
Magee, Christopher L.
An Algorithm and Metric for Network Decomposition from Similarity Matrices: Application to Positional Analyses
title An Algorithm and Metric for Network Decomposition from Similarity Matrices: Application to Positional Analyses
title_full An Algorithm and Metric for Network Decomposition from Similarity Matrices: Application to Positional Analyses
title_fullStr An Algorithm and Metric for Network Decomposition from Similarity Matrices: Application to Positional Analyses
title_full_unstemmed An Algorithm and Metric for Network Decomposition from Similarity Matrices: Application to Positional Analyses
title_short An Algorithm and Metric for Network Decomposition from Similarity Matrices: Application to Positional Analyses
title_sort algorithm and metric for network decomposition from similarity matrices application to positional analyses
url http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/102890
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