A Precursor to Modern Social Network Analysis
Once upon a time, it took a lot of effort to collect social network data. Months were spent in the processing of designing surveys, identifying populations, completing forms, collecting results, and entering data. Months had to be spent in the field gaining entrée, keeping meticulous notes about happenstance interactions, and then coding up reams of observations. Or, months had to be spent in drafty and dusty libraries pouring over bureaucratic records of yore. The common theme is the “months” part before any actual analysis could begin. The idea that anything about this process of collecting, analyzing, and reporting data could be “real time” would have gotten you thrown in the funny house.
