Causality in Social Network Analysis

Patrick Doreian
Additional contact information
Patrick Doreian: University of Pittsburgh

Sociological Methods & Research, 2001, vol. 30, issue 1, 81-114

Abstract: The role that causality can play in social network analysis is unclear. The author provides a broad characterization of social network analysis before considering the nature of causality. He distinguishes four types of causality: system causality, statistical causality, mechanism causality, and algorithmic causality. Their potential places in network analysis are discussed. Understanding generative mechanisms—be they system, mechanism, or algorithmic—seems the most promising way to proceed. The role of statistical causality is a source of potential data analytic tools that can be mobilized within analyses conducted in the spirit of the other three types of causality.

Date: 2001
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0049124101030001005 (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:somere:v:30:y:2001:i:1:p:81-114

DOI: 10.1177/0049124101030001005

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Sociological Methods & Research
Bibliographic data for series maintained by SAGE Publications ().