Contenu de l'article

Titre Analyse de réseaux et sociologie générale
Auteur Jacques Coenen-Huther
Mir@bel Revue Flux
Numéro no 13-14, juillet-décembre 1993
Page 33-40
Résumé anglais The concept of network which underlying the study of modes of informal sociability may be defined as a configuration of social relationships. There is a relationship between two individuals when the existence or the activity of one exerts an influence upon the behavior or frame of mind of the other. The relationship can be qualified as social when indi viduals other than those in direct interaction intervene in the relationship and contribute to determining its modalities. Configurations of relationships are chains of relationships linked by common terms. From the point of view of social dynamics, the common terms possess a particular type of significance. The notion of network thus conceived lends itself to for- malization or to visualization through diagrams, but this does not constitute an indispensable condition for analysis. Usually, one must differentiate between personal or egocentric networks, which are described starting from an individual taken as the center of the analysis or as source of information, and social or contextual networks, situated within a previously-defined context (kinship, building, neighborhood, institution, organization, etc.). Starting with the individual taken as the term of reference, it is possible to distinguish the different zones of interaction, depending upon whether the relationships are direct or mediated by a common term. The examination of the characteristics in the relationships thus found, as well as the formal aspects of the configurations within which they are situated, makes it possible to draw conclusions concerning the typical modes of sociability for a given social environment.
Source : Éditeur (via Persée)
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