Social Network Analysis and Critical Realism

Social network analysis (SNA) is an increasingly popular approach that provides researchers with highly developed tools to map and analyze complexes of social relations. Although a number of network scholars have explicated the assumptions that underpin SNA, the approach has yet to be discussed in r...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal for the theory of social behaviour 2014-09, Vol.44 (3), p.306-325
Main Author: Buch-Hansen, Hubert
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
causal mechanisms
critical realism
Knowledge
Network analysis
positivism
Realism
social network analysis
Social Networks
Social Reality
Social relations
Social sciences
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Summary:Social network analysis (SNA) is an increasingly popular approach that provides researchers with highly developed tools to map and analyze complexes of social relations. Although a number of network scholars have explicated the assumptions that underpin SNA, the approach has yet to be discussed in relation to established philosophies of science. This article argues that there is a tension between applied and methods‐oriented SNA studies, on the one hand, and those addressing the social‐theoretical nature and implications of networks, on the other. The former, in many cases, exhibits positivist tendencies, whereas the latter incorporate a number of assumptions that are directly compatible with core critical realist views on the nature of social reality and knowledge. This article suggests that SNA may be detached from positivist social science and come to constitute a valuable instrument in the critical realist toolbox.
ISSN:0021-8308
1468-5914
DOI:10.1111/jtsb.12044