How to make methodological decisions when inferring social networks
How to make methodological decisions when inferring social networks
Loading...
Date
2020
Authors
Ferreira, André C.
Covas, Rita
Silva, Liliana R.
Esteves, Sandra C.
Duarte, Inês F.
Theron, Frank
Doutrelant, Claire
Editors
Journal ISSN
Electronic ISSN
ISBN
Bibliographical data
Publisher
Series
URI (citable link)
DOI (citable link)
International patent number
Link to the license
EU project number
Project
Open Access publication
Title in another language
Publication type
Journal article
Publication status
Published
Published in
Ecology and Evolution ; 10 (2020), 17. - pp. 9132-9143. - Wiley. - eISSN 2045-7758
Abstract
Social network analyses allow studying the processes underlying the associations between individuals and the consequences of those associations. Constructing and analysing social networks data can be challenging, especially when designing new studies as researchers are confronted with decisions about how to collect data and construct networks, and the answers are not always straightforward. The current lack of guidance on building a social network for a new study system might lead researchers to try several different methods, and risk generating false results arising from multiple hypotheses testing. Here, we suggest an approach for making decisions when starting social network research in a new study system that avoids the pitfall of multiple hypotheses testing. We argue that best edge definition for a network is a decision that can be made using a priori knowledge about the species, and that is independent from the hypotheses that the network will ultimately be used to evaluate. We illustrate this approach with a study conducted on a colonial cooperatively breeding bird, the sociable weaver. We first identified two ways of collecting data using different numbers of feeders and three ways to define associations among birds. We then evaluated which combination of data collection and association definition maximised (i) the assortment of individuals into previously known ‘breeding groups’ (birds that contribute towards the same nest and maintain cohesion when foraging), and (ii) socially differentiated relationships (more strong and weak relationships than expected by chance). This evaluation of different methods based on a priori knowledge of the study species can be implemented in a diverse array of study systems and makes the case for using existing, biologically meaningful knowledge about a system to help navigate the myriad of methodological decisions about data collection and network inference.
Summary in another language
Subject (DDC)
570 Biosciences, Biology
Keywords
assortativity, group living, methods, Philetarius socius, social behaviour, social network analysis
Conference
Review
undefined / . - undefined, undefined. - (undefined; undefined)
Cite This
ISO 690
FERREIRA, André C., Rita COVAS, Liliana R. SILVA, Sandra C. ESTEVES, Inês F. DUARTE, Frank THERON, Claire DOUTRELANT, Damien R. FARINE, 2020. How to make methodological decisions when inferring social networks. In: Ecology and Evolution. Wiley. 10(17), pp. 9132-9143. eISSN 2045-7758. Available under: doi: 10.1002/ece3.6568BibTex
@article{Ferreira2020metho-50103, year={2020}, doi={10.1002/ece3.6568}, title={How to make methodological decisions when inferring social networks}, number={17}, volume={10}, journal={Ecology and Evolution}, pages={9132--9143}, author={Ferreira, André C. and Covas, Rita and Silva, Liliana R. and Esteves, Sandra C. and Duarte, Inês F. and Theron, Frank and Doutrelant, Claire and Farine, Damien R.} }
RDF
<rdf:RDF xmlns:dcterms="http://purl.org/dc/terms/" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:rdf="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#" xmlns:bibo="http://purl.org/ontology/bibo/" xmlns:dspace="http://digital-repositories.org/ontologies/dspace/0.1.0#" xmlns:foaf="http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/" xmlns:void="http://rdfs.org/ns/void#" xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#" > <rdf:Description rdf:about="https://kops.uni-konstanz.de/server/rdf/resource/123456789/50103"> <dc:creator>Covas, Rita</dc:creator> <dcterms:rights rdf:resource="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"/> <dc:contributor>Silva, Liliana R.</dc:contributor> <void:sparqlEndpoint rdf:resource="http://localhost/fuseki/dspace/sparql"/> <dcterms:abstract xml:lang="eng">Social network analyses allow studying the processes underlying the associations between individuals and the consequences of those associations. Constructing and analysing social networks data can be challenging, especially when designing new studies as researchers are confronted with decisions about how to collect data and construct networks, and the answers are not always straightforward. The current lack of guidance on building a social network for a new study system might lead researchers to try several different methods, and risk generating false results arising from multiple hypotheses testing. Here, we suggest an approach for making decisions when starting social network research in a new study system that avoids the pitfall of multiple hypotheses testing. We argue that best edge definition for a network is a decision that can be made using a priori knowledge about the species, and that is independent from the hypotheses that the network will ultimately be used to evaluate. We illustrate this approach with a study conducted on a colonial cooperatively breeding bird, the sociable weaver. We first identified two ways of collecting data using different numbers of feeders and three ways to define associations among birds. We then evaluated which combination of data collection and association definition maximised (i) the assortment of individuals into previously known ‘breeding groups’ (birds that contribute towards the same nest and maintain cohesion when foraging), and (ii) socially differentiated relationships (more strong and weak relationships than expected by chance). This evaluation of different methods based on a priori knowledge of the study species can be implemented in a diverse array of study systems and makes the case for using existing, biologically meaningful knowledge about a system to help navigate the myriad of methodological decisions about data collection and network inference.</dcterms:abstract> <dc:contributor>Duarte, Inês F.</dc:contributor> <dc:creator>Theron, Frank</dc:creator> <dc:creator>Farine, Damien R.</dc:creator> <dspace:isPartOfCollection rdf:resource="https://kops.uni-konstanz.de/server/rdf/resource/123456789/43615"/> <dc:contributor>Theron, Frank</dc:contributor> <dc:contributor>Esteves, Sandra C.</dc:contributor> <dcterms:isPartOf rdf:resource="https://kops.uni-konstanz.de/server/rdf/resource/123456789/28"/> <dc:contributor>Ferreira, André C.</dc:contributor> <dcterms:available rdf:datatype="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime">2020-07-02T11:57:35Z</dcterms:available> <bibo:uri rdf:resource="https://kops.uni-konstanz.de/handle/123456789/50103"/> <dc:rights>Attribution 4.0 International</dc:rights> <dcterms:title>How to make methodological decisions when inferring social networks</dcterms:title> <dspace:isPartOfCollection rdf:resource="https://kops.uni-konstanz.de/server/rdf/resource/123456789/28"/> <dc:date rdf:datatype="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime">2020-07-02T11:57:35Z</dc:date> <dc:language>eng</dc:language> <dc:creator>Duarte, Inês F.</dc:creator> <dspace:hasBitstream rdf:resource="https://kops.uni-konstanz.de/bitstream/123456789/50103/3/Ferreira_2-4dbkppuaxnkt1.pdf"/> <dc:creator>Esteves, Sandra C.</dc:creator> <dc:contributor>Farine, Damien R.</dc:contributor> <dc:contributor>Covas, Rita</dc:contributor> <dcterms:isPartOf rdf:resource="https://kops.uni-konstanz.de/server/rdf/resource/123456789/43615"/> <dcterms:issued>2020</dcterms:issued> <dc:contributor>Doutrelant, Claire</dc:contributor> <dc:creator>Silva, Liliana R.</dc:creator> <foaf:homepage rdf:resource="http://localhost:8080/"/> <dcterms:hasPart rdf:resource="https://kops.uni-konstanz.de/bitstream/123456789/50103/3/Ferreira_2-4dbkppuaxnkt1.pdf"/> <dc:creator>Ferreira, André C.</dc:creator> <dc:creator>Doutrelant, Claire</dc:creator> </rdf:Description> </rdf:RDF>
Internal note
xmlui.Submission.submit.DescribeStep.inputForms.label.kops_note_fromSubmitter
Examination date of dissertation
Method of financing
Comment on publication
Alliance license
Corresponding Authors der Uni Konstanz vorhanden
International Co-Authors
Bibliography of Konstanz
Refereed
Yes