| University Libraries
The following resources provide an excellent starting point for understanding what network analysis is, the terminology, basic concepts, various tools you can use to perform network analysis, and how this methodology is used in scholarship.
Node: Represents an entity (e.g., person)
Edge: Represents a relationship between two nodes. Can have different weights to represent the strength of the relationship
Path/Connector: Indirect relationships between nodes through another node
Cluster: A group of nodes that has interrelationships
Degree: Number of connections (edges) for a node. Nodes with more degrees have more direct relationships
Closeness: How close or far a node is to all other nodes. Nodes with better closeness have more indirect relationships
Betweenness: How often a node is on the shortest path. Nodes with more betweenness connect clusters
Centrality: A measure of how many other nodes are related
Base image from Wikimedia Commons. Annotations by Jajwalya Karajgikar.