Sequential Social Network Data

A new method is proposed for the statistical analysis of dyadic social interaction data measured over time. The data to be studied are assumed to be realizations of a social network of a fixed set of actors interacting on a single relation. The method is based on loglinear models for the probabilities for various dyad (or actor pair) states and generalizes the statistical methods proposed by Holland and Leinhardt (1981), Fienberg, Meyer, & Wasserman (1985), and Wasserman (1987) for social network data. Two statistical models are described: the first is an "associative" approach that allows for the study of how the network has changed over time; the second is a "predictive" approach that permits the researcher to model one time point as a function of previous time points. These approaches are briefly contrasted with earlier methods for the sequential analysis of social networks and are illustrated with an example of longitudinal sociometric data