Structural cohesion and embeddedness in two-mode networks

ABSTRACT

The detection of structural cohesion is a key utility of social network analysis, but little work has been done to refine the detection of structural cohesion in two-mode networks. Most work on cohesion in two-mode networks either: (1) attempts to detect cohesion in such networks using one-mode projections (which can be problematic for reasons we discuss); or (2) focuses on restrictive substructures like bi-cliques to identify cohesive subgroups. We propose a new strategy for two-mode networks that follows the general reasoning of approaches to detecting structural cohesion in one-mode networks. Our approach identifies the number of actors from one node set that may be removed before disconnecting actors in the opposite set. We also develop a definition of embeddedness that draws on Moody and White’s hierarchical nesting approach.

KEYWORDS:

• Cohesion
• embeddedness
• subgroup
• two-mode network
• organization
• elites

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Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

¹ It is important to note here that Moody and White’s use of the word “complete” does not align precisely with the graph-theoretic notion of completeness. In graph theory, a graph is complete if every possible connection between nodes is present, i.e. a clique. What Moody and White mean by “complete” is that the graph does not contain subgraphs of higher connectivity.

Additional information

Funding

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.