How to measure own-group preference? A novel approach to a sociometric problem

Leo Egghe () and Ronald Rousseau
Additional contact information
Leo Egghe: Limburgs Universitair Centrum (LUC), Universitaire Campus
Ronald Rousseau: UA, IBW Wilrijk (

Scientometrics, 2004, vol. 59, issue 2, No 5, 233-252

Abstract: Abstract In this article we present a precise definition of the notion "own-group preference" and characterize all functions capable of correctly measuring it. Examples of such functions are provided. The weighted Lorenz curve and the theory developed for it will be our main tools for reaching this goal. We further correct our earlier articles on this subject. In the context of own-language preference, Bookstein and Yitzhaki proposed the logarithm of the odds-ratio as an acceptable measure of own-group preference. We now present a general framework within which the concept of own-group preference, and its opposite, namely own-group aversion, can be precisely pinpointed. This framework is derived form inequality theory and is based on the use of the weighted Lorenz curve. The concept of own-group preference is an interesting notion with applications in different fields such as sociology, political sciences, economics, management science and of course, the information sciences. Some examples are provided.

Date: 2004
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1023/B:SCIE.0000018531.24886.00 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

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:spr:scient:v:59:y:2004:i:2:d:10.1023_b:scie.0000018531.24886.00

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/economics/journal/11192

DOI: 10.1023/B:SCIE.0000018531.24886.00

Access Statistics for this article

Scientometrics is currently edited by Wolfgang Glänzel

More articles in Scientometrics from Springer, Akadémiai Kiadó
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().