Social Network Analysis

This article is an overview of social network analysis, which is viewed as a highly contextual study of social structure. Its development stems from three sources: (1) the sociometry of Moreno, (2) the Harvard School of the 1930s and 1940s, and, lastly, (3) the Manchester School of the 1950s and 1960s. In addition to a survey of the analytical terminology, the distinction between strong and weak ties is underlined as a factor that determines social mobility. Two methodological tools of social network analysis are presented: the positional and the relational. Finally, the concept of weak determinism is compared with two concepts of a dual social order. Sociologick asopis, 1999, Vol. 35 (No. 2: 193-206) lnek je pehledovou stat o konceptu socilnch st a je uren pro ty, kte hledaj zkladn informace o danm tmatu. Nejprve se zmiuje o oblastech, kde lze analzu socilnch st uplatnit. Pak je popisovn vvoj koncepce socilnch st v ase a je podn pehled o zkladnm pojmovm apartu analzy socilnch st.