Fundamentals of Big Data Network Analysis for Research and Industry

2Basic Programs for Analyzing Networks

Up to now, our viewpoint on data was focused on the actor’s attribute. However, since an actor’s behavior is not always independent, it is necessary to observe the actors from a network relation perspective. There is a traditional saying in Korean classics: Myungshimbogam, of “if you want to know a person, first look at his friends.” This word transforms our perspective from a single actor’s attributes to a network. To analyze Big Data from a network perspective, a program is available for network analysis. Some widely used network analysis programs are introduced such as UCINET (University of California Irvine NETwork), NetMiner, R, Gephi, and NodeXL. UNICET and NetMiner are comprehensive programs that can use various techniques for network analysis. NodeXL focuses more on software for the statistics calculation, while R focuses on statistics calculation and Grephi focuses on visualization. Through NodeXL, network data can be retrieved by using Excel Template for basic analysis and visualization.

2.1 UCINET

UCINET [1] is a software program developed by Linton Freeman for different types of network analysis. The UCI initials in the acronym acknowledge Freeman’s position as a professor at the University of California Irvine. The software was later enhanced in collaboration with Steve Borgatti and Martin Everett and is currently the most widely used network analysis software on the market. UCINET allows the researcher to use various ...