A Practical Guide to Measuring Social Structure Using Indirectly Observed Network Data

Aggregated Relational Data (ARD) are an increasingly common tool for learning about social networks through standard surveys. Recent statistical advances present social scientists with new options for analyzing such data. In this paper, we propose guidelines for learning about various network processes using ARD and a template to aid practitioners. We first propose that ARD can be used to measure “social distance” between a respondent and a subpopulation (individuals named Kevin, those in prison, or serving in the military). We then present common methods for analyzing these data and associate each of these methods with a specific way of measuring social distance, thus associating statistical tools with their underlying social science phenomena. We examine the implications of using each of these social distance measures using an internet survey about contemporary political issues. ∗The first three authors contributed equally to this paper. †University of Washington, Department of Statistics and Department of Sociology, Box 354320, Seattle, WA 98195 ‡Unaffiliated §University of Oxford, Oxford-Man Institute of Quantitative Finance and Mathematical Institute ¶University of Wisconsin, Madison, Department of Sociology, 1180 Observatory Dr., Madison, WI 53706 ‖Columbia University, Department of Statistics and Department of Political Science, 1255 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, NY 10027 ∗∗Columbia University, School of Social Work, 1255 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, NY 10027 ††Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected]