COBLOC: A hierarchical method for blocking network data

A method is described for finding blockmodels of a given network using an agglomerative hierarchical clustering technique with optional backtrack capabilities. The clustering criterion is an index of the goodness of fit of the blockmodel that would be produced by a given clustering. This index is computed for each clustering considered. This method is compared on a priori grounds with other methods and comparative results are reported for its application to the Western Electric Bank Wiring Room data. Extensions combining this method with other clustering methods are discussed.

[1]  Calvin C. Gotlieb,et al.  Semantic Clustering of Index Terms , 1968, J. ACM.

[2]  G. Homans.  The human group , 1952 .

[3]  Louis L. McQuitty,et al.  A Novel Application of the Coefficient of Correlation in the Isolation of Both Typal and Dimensional Constructs , 1967 .

[4]  Phipps Arabie,et al.  Constructing blockmodels: How and why , 1978 .

[5]  L. Hubert.  Monotone invariant clustering procedures , 1973 .

[6]  P. Arabie,et al.  An algorithm for clustering relational data with applications to social network analysis and comparison with multidimensional scaling , 1975 .

[7]  S. Boorman,et al.  Social Structure from Multiple Networks. I. Blockmodels of Roles and Positions , 1976, American Journal of Sociology.

[8]  L. Sailer.  Structural equivalence: Meaning and definition, computation and application , 1978 .

[9]  H. White,et al.  An algorithm for finding simultaneous homomorphic correspondences between graphs and their image graphs , 1976 .

[10]  L. Hubert.  Some extensions of Johnson's hierarchical clustering algorithms , 1972 .

[11]  R. M. Cormack,et al.  A Review of Classification , 1971 .

[12]  L. Mcquitty,et al.  MULTIPLE CLUSTERS, TYPES, AND DIMENSIONS FROM ITERATIVE INTERCOLUMNAR CORRELATIONAL ANALYSIS. , 1968, Multivariate behavioral research.

[13]  R R Sokal,et al.  Classification: Purposes, Principles, Progress, Prospects , 1974, Science.

[14]  Robert A. M. Gregson,et al.  Psychometrics of similarity , 1975 .

[15]  Brian W. Kernighan,et al.  An Effective Heuristic Algorithm for the Traveling-Salesman Problem , 1973, Oper. Res..

[16]  S. C. Johnson.  Hierarchical clustering schemes , 1967, Psychometrika.

[17]  Peter J. Carrington,et al.  A goodness-of-fit index for blockmodels , 1979 .

[18]  Alfred V. Aho,et al.  The Design and Analysis of Computer Algorithms , 1974 .

[19]  Ronald S. Burt,et al.  Positions in Networks , 1976 .

[20]  P. Pattison,et al.  The Joint Role Structure of Two Communities' Elites , 1978 .

[21]  Louis L. McQuitty,et al.  Clusters from Iterative, Intercolumnar Correlational Analysis , 1968 .

[22]  D. Robertson Smith,et al.  THE CYTOLOGY AND CYTOCHEMISTRY OF ACUTE LEUKAEMIAS , 1965 .

[23]  H. P. Friedman,et al.  On Some Invariant Criteria for Grouping Data , 1967 .

[24]  L. Mcquitty.  Elementary Linkage Analysis for Isolating Orthogonal and Oblique Types and Typal Relevancies , 1957 .

[25]  Brian Everitt,et al.  Cluster analysis , 1974 .

[26]  Ronald L. Breiger,et al.  Toward an operational theory of community elite structures , 1979 .

[27]  Joseph E. Schwartz,et al.  An Examination of Concor and Related Methods for Blocking Sociometric Data , 1977 .

[28]  L. Hubert.  Some applications of graph theory to clustering , 1974 .

[29]  F. J. Roethlisberger,et al.  Management and the Worker , 1941 .

[30]  J. H. Ward.  Hierarchical Grouping to Optimize an Objective Function , 1963 .