Visualising and interpreting group behavior through social networks

Abstract

In this study, we visualise and interpret the relationships between different types of social network (SN) structures (i.e., degree centrality, cut-points) and group behavior using political contribution dataset. We seek to identify whether investment behavior is network dependent using the political contribution dataset. By applying social networks analysis as a visualisation and interpretation technique, we find patterns of social network structures from the dataset, which explains the political contribution behavior (i.e., investment behavior) of political action committee (PAC). The following questions guide this study: Is there a correlation between SN structure and group behavior? Do we see patterns of different network structures for different types and categories of political contribution (i.e., support or oppose; level of contribution)? Is there a structural difference of networks between different types of support and oppose behavior? Do the group networks for support and oppose differ structurally on the basis of different types of political contribution patterns?. © 2008 The authors and IOS Press. All rights reserved.