First steps in social network analysis

This document discusses social network analysis and introduces some key concepts. It motivates moving beyond old theories of knowledge and learning to consider knowledge as continuous and cognitive operations occurring through networks. It then defines fundamentals of networks, including nodes, edges, paths, cycles, and subgraphs. It introduces measures of degree centrality, closeness, betweenness, and shortest paths to characterize networks and determine influential nodes. The document provides examples of social network analysis measures and their use in understanding communication activity, community control, and information flow.