Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34216192›Full record

ReviewBiological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society2021

A guide to choosing and implementing reference models for social network analysis.

Elizabeth A Hobson, Matthew J Silk, Nina H Fefferman, Daniel B Larremore, Puck Rombach, Saray Shai, Noa Pinter-Wollman

Open access · hybridAbstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
23citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
0.9field-weighted citation impact, top 27% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

23 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 8 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Review
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. A wrap-around movement path randomization method to distinguish social and spatial drivers of animal interactions.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2024
    Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
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  10. Article
  11. Article
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  15. Review
  16. Article
  17. Social hierarchies and social networks in humans.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2022
    Article
  18. Article
  19. Aggression heuristics underlie animal dominance hierarchies and provide evidence of group-level social information.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2021
    Article
  20. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 7 institutions in 2 countries.

Elizabeth A Hobson *Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cincinnati, 318 College Drive, Cincinnati, OH, 45221, U.S.A.ORCID 0000-0003-3526-8931
Matthew J Silk *Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter Penryn Campus, Treliever Road, Penryn, Cornwall, TR10 9FE, U.K.ORCID 0000-0002-8318-5383
Nina H FeffermanDepartments of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology & Mathematics, University of Tennessee, 569 Dabney Hall, Knoxville, TN, 37996, U.S.A.ORCID 0000-0003-0233-1404
Daniel B LarremoreDepartment of Computer Science, University of Colorado Boulder, 1111 Engineering Drive, Boulder, CO, 80309, U.S.A.ORCID 0000-0001-5273-5234
Puck RombachDepartment of Mathematics & Statistics, University of Vermont, 82 University Place, Burlington, VT, 05405, U.S.A.ORCID 0000-0002-8374-0797
Saray ShaiDepartment of Mathematics and Computer Science, Wesleyan University, Science Tower 655, 265 Church Street, Middletown, CT, 06459, U.S.A.ORCID 0000-0001-5392-4117
Noa Pinter-WollmanDepartment of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, 612 Charles E. Young Drive South, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, U.S.A.ORCID 0000-0002-0448-8037
University of California, Los Angeles · USUniversity of Cincinnati · USUniversity of Colorado Boulder · USUniversity of Exeter · GBUniversity of Tennessee at Knoxville · USUniversity of Vermont · USWesleyan University · US

Funding

Modeling how keystone individuals emerge and influence disease transmissionR01GM115509 · NIGMS · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES · PI PINTER-WOLLMAN, NOA MICHAL · 2016 to 2020
$2.0M
NIGMS NIH HHS R01 GM115509
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Analysing social networks is challenging. Key features of relational data require the use of non-standard statistical methods such as developing system-specific null, or reference, models that randomize one or more components of the observed data. Here we review a variety of randomization procedures that generate reference models for social network analysis. Reference models provide an expectation for hypothesis testing when analysing network data. We outline the key stages in producing an effective reference model and detail four approaches for generating reference distributions: permutation, resampling, sampling from a distribution, and generative models. We highlight when each type of approach would be appropriate and note potential pitfalls for researchers to avoid. Throughout, we illustrate our points with examples from a simulated social system. Our aim is to provide social network researchers with a deeper understanding of analytical approaches to enhance their confidence when tailoring reference models to specific research questions.

Indexed as

Research DesignSocial Network Analysisagent-based modelanimal socialityconfiguration modelpermutationrandomizationsocial network analysis

Identifiers

PMID34216192
PMCPMC9292850
OpenAlexW3112624715

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.