Brian L. Foster

A graph‐theoretic generalization of the clique concept*

For at least twenty‐five years, the concept of the clique has had a prominent place in sociometric and other kinds of sociological research. Recently, with the advent of large, fast computers and with the growth of interest in graph‐theoretic social network studies, research on the definition and investigation of the graph theoretic properties of clique‐like structures has grown. In the present paper, several of these formulations are examined, and their mathematical properties analyzed. A family of new clique‐like structures is proposed which captures an aspect of cliques which is seldom treated in the existing literature. The new structures, when used to complement existing concepts, provide a new means of tapping several important properties of social networks.

Brand Congruence in Interpersonal Relations: A Social Network Analysis

Previous studies dealing with the notion of brand congruence suffer from questionable methods of group determination, suspect demonstrations of brand congruence effects, and inadequate attention paid to types of social relation. To overcome these shortcomings, the present study uses graph-theoretic social network techniques to examine interpersonal relationships and brand choice behavior in natural environments. The brand choices of individuals in a social relationship were compared to those of unrelated individuals across various products, types of social relation, and types of basic sociological structure (dyad, clique, and 2-plex). While significant brand congruence effects were obtained, they were clustered in a few products mediated by types of social relation. Conspicuousness of the product, as traditionally defined, was found to be insufficient to account for these findings.

A note on the potential for genuine cross-fertilization between anthropology and mathematics☆

Although there has been much discussion in recent years of the applicability of mathematical methods in the social sciences, little attention has been paid to the interaction of the sociological analysis and the mathematics. In this paper, an example of an extremely fruitful interaction between anthropology and mathematics is described. The interaction has, on the one hand, greatly increased the subtlety and sophistication of the sociological analysis, while on the other hand it has posed interesting mathematical questions.

Formal network studies and the anthropological perspective

Anthropological social network studies are primarily of interest for an original formulation of the classic sociological problem of reconciling structural and action aspects of social organization. In general, however, these studies have produced disappointing substantive results owing to serious methodological and theoretical difficulties. Within the anthropological tradition are two types of research, viz., structural kinship studies and cognitive anthropological decision models, which have produced sound substantive results and which, if generalized and properly combined, could provide the methodological and theoretical tools which eluded the network scholars.

Sonet-1: Social network analysis and modeling system

Abstract SONET-I is a preliminary but completely operational version of a package of computer programs for the analysis of social structure. The programs were written to implement a strategy for the analysis of social networks which the authors have developed over the past several years. The conceptual basis for the research method has its origins in graph theory on the one hand and in anthropological studies of social organization — especially kinship studies — on the other. The method can, in fact, be seen as a graph theoretic formalization and generalization of kinship-based methods of social analysis often associated with British social anthropology.

Development, Modernization and Comparative Parochialism: A Review Article

Alex Inkeles and David H. Smith, Becoming Modern: Individual Change in Six Developing Countries. London: Heinemann, 1974, 436 pp. S. N. Eisenstadt and Yael Azmon, eds., Socialism and Tradition. Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey: Humanities Press, 1975, 262 pp. Szymon Chodak, Societal Development: Five Approaches with Conclusions from Comparative Analysis. New York: Oxford University Press, 1973, 357 pp. Ivar Oxaal, Tony Barnett, and David Booth, eds., Beyond the Sociology of Development: Economy and Society in Latin America and Africa. London and Boston: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1975, 295 pp.

Structural Variability in Stem Family Development Cycles: A Simulation Approach

A computer simulation of stem family development cycles indicates that mean family size and the proportions of stem and nuclear families vary dramatically when residence rules are varied with respect to which child by birth order stays with the parents. When a childs sex is specified and/or different children stay sequentially with the parents, the variability is greatly curtailed. The simulation uses demographic parameters from data on rural Thailand. The simulation program is described.