Blockmodeling
Blockmodeling is a family of methods that simplify a social network by partitioning its actors into positions — groups of actors who are equivalent in their pattern of ties — and summarizing the relations between positions as a compact image, or reduced role structure. Introduced by Harrison White, Scott Boorman, and Ronald Breiger in 1976, it shifts attention from individuals to the structural roles they occupy.
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Sources
- White, H. C., Boorman, S. A., & Breiger, R. L. (1976). Social structure from multiple networks. I. Blockmodels of roles and positions. American Journal of Sociology, 81(4), 730–780. DOI: 10.1086/226141 ↗
- Doreian, P., Batagelj, V., & Ferligoj, A. (2005). Generalized Blockmodeling. Cambridge University Press. ISBN: 978-0-521-84085-7
How to cite this page
ScholarGate. (2026, June 22). Blockmodeling of Social Networks. ScholarGate. https://scholargate.app/en/sociology/blockmodeling
Which method?
Set this method beside its closest kin and read them side by side — the library lays the books on the table; the choice is yours.
- Positional AnalysisSociology↔ compare
- Social Network AnalysisNetwork analysis↔ compare
- Structural EquivalenceSociology↔ compare
- Triad CensusSociology↔ compare