Explorations in Structural Analysis by Ronald Breiger - 9781138969377

Taylor & Francis

Explorations in Structural AnalysisDual and Multiple Networks of Social Interaction\nAuthor(s): Ronald Breiger\nFormat: Paperback\nPublisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd, United Kingdom\nImprint: Routledge\nISBN-13: 9781138969377, 978-1138969377\nSynopsis\nAt a time when most of the innovative techniques in empirical sociology concern themselves with networks of relations among variables (such as indices of occupational prestige, education and income), the central theme of this volume is that there is much substantive insight and analytical leverage to be gained from a conceptualization of social structure directly, as regularities in the patterning of relations among concrete entities. The view adopted here is that variate distributions measure selected consequences of structural pattern (of the actual connections among individuals or organizations) and, as such, they are useful indicators of questions to be asked in analyzing social structures directly, but they are neither descriptio.