Record Details

Replication Data for: Navigating the Range of Statistical Tools for Inferential Network Analysis

Harvard Dataverse (Africa Rice Center, Bioversity International, CCAFS, CIAT, IFPRI, IRRI and WorldFish)

View Archive Info
 
 
Field Value
 
Title Replication Data for: Navigating the Range of Statistical Tools for Inferential Network Analysis
 
Identifier https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/2XP8YF
 
Creator Cranmer, Skyler
Leifeld, Philip
McClurg, Scott
Rolfe, Meredith
 
Publisher Harvard Dataverse
 
Description The last decade has seen substantial advances in statistical techniques for the analysis of network data, and a major increase in the frequency with which these tools are used. These techniques are designed to accomplish the same broad goal, statistically valid inference in the presence of highly interdependent relationships, but important differences remain between them. We review three approaches commonly used for inferential network analysis---the Quadratic Assignment Procedure, Exponential Random Graph Model, and Latent Space Network Model---highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of the techniques relative to one another. An illustrative example using climate change policy network data shows that all three network models outperform standard logit estimates on multiple criteria. This paper introduces political scientists to a class of network techniques beyond simple descriptive measures of network structure, and helps researchers choose which model to use in their own research.
 
Subject Social Sciences
Political networks
Exponential random graph models
Latent space models
 
Contributor Cranmer, Skyler