Networks in the Social Sciences

Abstract

While the question of networks have appeared in social sciences since decades, they can be still regarded as one of the significant concepts which grasps the imagination of both theorists and empirical researchers. Because of this interest many different forms of network approaches have been developed. In many cases these theoretical and analytical developments have occurred relatively independently from each other using different vocabularies and research styles. This paper aims to present two prominent network approaches, namely Actor-Network-Theory (ANT) and Social Network Analysis (SNA), in order to highlight the similarities and differences between them. This parallel presentation also allows to map the possible connections between these two separate schools of thought. Consequently, the first and second main sections of the paper introduces ANT and SNA respectively, while the last section of the paper discusses similarities and differences, as well as, possible fruitful convergences between these two.