Compare methods

	Name Generator Method	Homophily Analysis
Field	Sociology	Sociology
Family	Process / pipeline	Process / pipeline
Year of origin	1984 (GSS network module)	1954 (concept); 2001 (synthesis)
Originator	Survey network methodology; Ronald Burt (GSS module)	Lazarsfeld & Merton (concept); McPherson, Smith-Lovin & Cook (synthesis)
Type	Survey instrument for eliciting personal-network members and attributes	Measurement of similarity-based tie formation
Seminal source	Burt, R. S. (1984). Network items and the General Social Survey. Social Networks, 6(4), 293–339.	McPherson, M., Smith-Lovin, L., & Cook, J. M. (2001). Birds of a feather: homophily in social networks. Annual Review of Sociology, 27, 415–444.
Aliases	name generator, name interpreter, egocentric network survey, personal network name generator	homophily measurement, assortative mixing analysis, birds-of-a-feather analysis, tie-similarity analysis
Related	5	4
Summary	The name generator is the standard survey technique for collecting egocentric (personal) network data. A respondent (ego) is prompted to name the people (alters) with whom they have a specified kind of relationship — those with whom they discuss important matters, exchange support, or socialize. A follow-up battery of name-interpreter questions then records each alter's attributes and the ties among the alters, yielding measures of network size, composition, density, and diversity for each respondent.	Homophily analysis quantifies the tendency of similar individuals to form ties — the principle that 'birds of a feather flock together'. It compares the rate at which people connect with others who share an attribute (race, gender, age, education, attitudes) against what would be expected by chance, distinguishing the homophily that arises merely from group sizes from the genuine, behavior-driven preference for similar others.