ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces the basic concepts of social network analysis and its principal descriptive and inferential variations. This method is extremely useful in analysing relationships between sets of individuals and in incorporating this information into predictive models. The chapter takes a descriptive and practical approach, beginning with the research questions that can be answered and the fundamental elements of research design. It describes the main analytical techniques and network measures and provides some illustrative examples. In addition, the chapter covers the practicalities of software selection, as this is an important aspect of social network analysis.
