Name Generator Method
Also known as: name generator, name interpreter, egocentric network survey, personal network name generator
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.
Key highlights
- Embeds personal-network measurement in ordinary surveys of representative populations.
- Yields rich data: alter attributes, ego–alter relations, and alter–alter structure.
- Supports a wide range of measures — size, composition, density, heterogeneity, constraint.
- Decades of methodological study give well-understood validity and reliability properties.
Intuition
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How it works
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When to use it
Use the name generator when you want personal-network data for a sample of individuals — composition, diversity, density, support, social capital — embedded in a standard survey, without needing a bounded whole network. It is the dominant method for studying social support, isolation, and ego-network structure in representative populations. It captures ego's perspective on a defined tie type and is subject to recall, naming, and interviewer effects; it does not yield a complete sociometric network and limits the number of alters for feasibility. When the goal is accessed resources rather than named ties, use the position or resource generator.
Strengths & limitations
- Embeds personal-network measurement in ordinary surveys of representative populations.
- Yields rich data: alter attributes, ego–alter relations, and alter–alter structure.
- Supports a wide range of measures — size, composition, density, heterogeneity, constraint.
- Decades of methodological study give well-understood validity and reliability properties.
- Captures only the slice of network defined by the generator wording; different prompts yield different networks.
- Subject to recall bias, satisficing, and interviewer effects that especially distort measured network size.
- The number of alters is usually capped for feasibility, truncating large networks.
- Relies on ego's report of alter attributes and alter–alter ties, which may be inaccurate.
Common pitfalls
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Applications
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Frequently asked
What is the difference between a name generator and a name interpreter?
The name generator is the question that elicits the alters (the names) — for example, 'with whom do you discuss important matters?' The name interpreter is the follow-up battery that, for each named alter, asks about their attributes and their relationships with ego and with the other alters. Together they turn a list of names into analyzable network data.
Why does the choice of name generator matter so much?
Each generator taps a different relational criterion — confiding, supporting, socializing, role relations — and therefore elicits a different subset of the personal network. An 'important matters' prompt captures close confidants; an exchange prompt captures instrumental ties. Measures of size, composition, and density are not comparable across studies that used different generators.
Should I use a name generator or a position generator?
Use a name generator when you want the composition and structure of someone's actual personal ties (who they are connected to and how those people relate). Use a position generator when you want to measure accessed social capital — the range and height of resources reachable through contacts — economically and comparably, without naming individuals. They answer different questions and are often used together.
Sources
- 1.Burt, R. S. (1984). Network items and the General Social Survey. Social Networks, 6(4), 293–339.
- 2.Marsden, P. V. (2003). Interviewer effects in measuring network size using a single name generator. Social Networks, 25(1), 1–16.
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Cite this page
ScholarGate. (2026, June 22). Name Generator Method. ScholarGate. https://scholargate.app/sociology/name-generator-method