ABSTRACT
‘The network’ is one of the most commonly used terms in the social sciences and indeed across many academic disciplines. The network as a term now surrounds us: network travel, network computing, social networking, career networking, neural networks, security networks and alumni networks are just some examples. Yet there has not been to date a simplified introduction and explanation of this concept, making it seem that this term for complex things is itself complex. This chapter looks at the development of social network analysis from a conceptual angle, exclusively focusing on the social science uses of the term as a metaphor, but also informed by its progress in social network analysis of a more quantitative sort. It will demonstrate how ‘the network’ has been used to capture relationships between all sorts of elements and in turn how social scientists have incorporated the concept into many of their keystone theories.
