Introduction to Social Network Analysis

Network Theory Economic activity is intrinsically related to social structures which has led to development agencies’ interest in social capital The position of an actor in the network influences their ability to access resources such as goods, capital and information Well connected actors have better access to information and other resources and therefore have more opportunities than less well connected actors.

What is social network analysis (SNA)? Networks are created by the relationships between different actors SNA examines the relationships between actors and the social structures in which they interact to gain a better understanding of actors’ roles within the social system. SNA is the study of how the ties in networks create opportunities and restrictions which affect both individual and institutional access to resources such as information, finance, goods and power.

Factors to consider during survey design Keep questions short and simple and avoid collecting data that will not be used The idea of this diagnostic approach is to obtain the maximum information in minimal time to get a birds eye view of the areas where we are working.

Sample Survey format Actor (Information source) Information obtained Communication media Actor (Information source) Information obtained How useful? 1=min, 5=max Survey with 2 variables Valued survey

Linkage maps and matrix Actor linkage matrices (Biggs and Matsaert, 2004) Social Network Analysis Using UCINET ( Steve Borgatti, Martin Everett and Lin Freeman)

Examples (FAP, 2010 ) Actor OoAR D DZAR C IPMS FAP EMDT I Ada’a Dairy Cooper atives Hund ae Land O Lakes Eden Field OoARD NA* DZARC 2 NA* IPMS 3 2 NA* FAP NA* EMDTI NA* Hundae NA* 0 0 Land o Lakes NA* 1 Eden Field NA*

UCINET Net Map

SNA in rural development The socio-institutional framework in rural communities is incredibly complex with interactions between grassroots groups, NGOs, public and private sector institutions who can operate at local, regional, national or international level. This is now recognised in work to promote ‘innovation platforms’ Studying networks can help us to understand the social structures and characteristics of relationships between the actors and institutions in the areas where we work SNA can help identify the key actors who can support us in our work or obstruct our efforts

Possible applications of SNA Within communities Identify innovative producer groups Identify other projects with similar objectives In value chains In innovation platforms In organisations Know what is happening in different departments within an institution (organigrams are a poor reflection of information flows) Relationships with field offices and other projects

How can SNA help us with our work? Identify existing information flows and bottlenecks to understand which groups have access to information and which groups are excluded from access to resources Identify actors who play similar roles in the network Identify disconnected groups in the network Identify opinion leaders who will be able to effectively disseminate information and promote innovation Your suggestions…..?

Group Discussion SNA uses data about relationships between actors Please work in groups and discuss Which actors do we work with? What is the nature of the relationships between them? What would be the advantage for our projects of being able to visualise these relationships? As development professionals what is our own relationship to these different groups?

Thank you!