Imaginary worlds: Using visual network scales to capture perceptions of social networks

Ajay Mehra, Stephen P. Borgatti, Scott Soltis, Theresa Floyd, Daniel S. Halgin, Brandon Ofem, Virginie Lopez-Kidwell

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

32 Scopus citations

Abstract

Social networks are not just patterns of interaction and sentiment in the real world; they are also cognitive (re)constructions of social relations, some real, some imagined. Focusing on networks as mental entities, our essay describes a new method that relies on stylized network images to gather quantitative data on how people "see" specific aspects of their social worlds. We discuss the logic of our approach, present several examples of "visual network scales," discuss some preliminary findings, and identify some of the problems and prospects in this nascent line of work on the phenomenology of social networks. Keywords: Cognition; cognitive social networks.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationContemporary Perspectives on Organizational Social Networks
Pages315-336
Number of pages22
DOIs
StatePublished - 2014

Publication series

NameResearch in the Sociology of Organizations
Volume40
ISSN (Print)0733-558X

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Sociology and Political Science
  • Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Imaginary worlds: Using visual network scales to capture perceptions of social networks'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this