Humanities Network Analysis

John R. Ladd, jrladd.com/slides/network-data

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What is a network?

  • A mathematical structure, a visual form, an operative metaphor, a data analysis method
  • A network is made up of:
    • Entities: node, vertex, actor
    • Relationships: edge, link, tie
    • In the humanities, we most often say nodes and edges

Where did network analysis come from?

Image credit: Ahnert et al., The Network Turn Chapter 4

Mark Lombardi, BCCI-ICIC & FAB, 1972-91 (4th version)

What can we learn from networks?

Cross-disciplinary formations

  • Social Networks
  • Biological Networks
  • Information Networks
  • Technological Networks

Scale-free networks and the small world

Types of humanities network projects

  • Visualization
  • Statistics and Computation
  • Conceptual and Theoretical

Why turn to networks?

  • Community structure
  • Behavior
  • Transmission of Information

Example Research Questions

  • What was the role of women in underground Protestant communities during the reign of Mary I? (Ahnert & Ahnert 2015)
  • Which books and readers were most prominent in Modernist literary reception at Shakespeare and Company? (Antoniak et al. 2024)
  • “First, how were publications by dramatists and other poets situated within the larger print marketplace? Second, how did paratextual criticism change over time between 1660 and 1700? And third, how did women’s contributions differ from men’s?” (Gavin 2016)

How do we collect network data?

Edge Table & Node Table

Edge table

Node table

Image credit: geeksforgeeks.com

Adjacency List

Custom formats: .gml, .graphml, JSON, GEXF, Pajek

What We’ll Explore Together

  • Collect and understand network data
  • Visualize data as node-link diagrams
  • Basic data analysis with networks

Additional Resources