Sociometry and Group Dynamics: Early Visions for the Quantification of Social Structure

• In Event: 3250 - Social Theory and Social Data

Abstract

Existing historical accounts for the emergence of Social Network Analysis (SNA) tend to emphasize the foundational role of mathematics in the formation of the field. On the basis of an archival analysis of two “precursors” of SNA, I demonstrate that a mathematical approach was neither patently obvious nor the primary impetus driving the development of quantitative approaches to social structure. Rather, these precursors were very much products of an environment where the legitimacy of social science as an empirical science was far from established. Early network-theoretic research was foundational not necessarily for its development of a mathematical approach to the study of groups, but because it encouraged and normalized new forms of representation. Visualizations of social structure were valuable not merely as tools for conveying data, but also for capturing the imagination of the public and enabling communication across disciplinary and linguistic barriers.

Author

• Vincent Yung, Northwestern University