Network Communities and Affiliation Networks-1

Network communities and
Affiliation networks
Module -03-SNA
1. Network Communities
Network communities are groups of nodes within a network that are more densely
connected to each other than to nodes outside the group. Identifying these
communities helps to reveal patterns in how individuals or entities are connected
within a social network.
Purpose: Helps identify social structures, hidden patterns, and influential groups.
Importance in Social Networks: Useful in sociology, marketing, recommendation

systems, and information dissemination studies.
Characteristics of Network Communities
High Internal Density: Strong connections within the community.
Low External Connectivity: Fewer connections to nodes outside the community.
Overlap and Hierarchy: Communities may overlap or form hierarchies

(sub-communities within larger communities).
Metrics to Evaluate Communities
Modularity: Measures the strength of division of a network into communities. High
modularity indicates dense connections within communities and sparse
connections between them.
Conductance: Evaluates how well-separated a community is from the rest of the

network.
Density: Ratio of the number of connections within a community to possible

connections, reflecting the "tightness" of the group.
Applications of Community Detection
Marketing: Target specific groups within a network for tailored marketing
strategies.
Social Media Analysis: Detect communities in social media to find influencers and
viral trends.
Recommender Systems: Suggest content based on community-based

preferences.
Biology: Identify functional modules or communities in biological networks (e.g.,

protein interactions).
Graph Partitioning and Cut Metrics
Introduction to Graph Partitioning
Definition: Graph partitioning divides a network into smaller, non-overlapping
subgraphs (communities) with high internal connectivity and low external
connectivity.
Purpose: Simplifies network analysis and focuses on distinct network segments.
Applications: Used in clustering, parallel computing, social analysis, and targeted

marketing.
Why Partition a Graph?
Scalability: Manages the complexity of analyzing large networks.
Community Detection: Identifies natural clusters or communities within networks.

Cut Metrics in Graph Partitioning
Edge Cut: Counts the number of edges that must be removed to split a network,
indicating separation strength.
Normalized Cut: Balances the number of cut edges with the size of each partition,
minimizing both simultaneously.
Conductance: Measures how well a community or partition is separated,

considering internal and external edges.
Applications of Graph Partitioning and Cut Metrics
Social Network Analysis: Identifies tightly-knit communities and measures
community separation.
Recommendation Systems: Grouping similar users for targeted content

recommendations.
Parallel Processing: Divides large networks for distributed and efficient computing.
Edge Cut Metric
Definition: Edge cut is the total number of edges removed to separate two
subgraphs.
Relevance: Helps maintain strong internal connectivity within communities.
Limitations: Simple edge cut may not consider balance between partitions, leading
to skewed results.
Conclusion
Recap: Graph partitioning and cut metrics are essential for understanding and
simplifying complex networks.
Applications Across Fields: Valuable in social network analysis, recommendation

systems, and parallel computing.
Future Prospects: Focus on scalable algorithms, dynamic partitioning, and

handling overlapping communities.
Edge Betweenness
Definition: Edge betweenness measures the importance of an edge by counting
the number of shortest paths between node pairs that pass through it.
Purpose: Identifies edges that act as “bridges” between communities, critical for
network flow and connectivity.
Edge Betweenness in Community Detection
Method: Remove edges with the highest edge betweenness to separate
communities.
Rationale: Edges with high betweenness often connect distinct communities, so

removing them reveals community structures.
Use Cases: Social media analysis, identifying weak links in network security, and
separating groups in organizational networks.
Modularity Clustering
Definition: Modularity is a measure of the strength of division of a network into
communities.
Objective: To maximize the density of edges within communities and minimize

between them.
Benefits and Limitations of Modularity Clustering
Benefits:
Effective in identifying community structures.
Widely used for networks with well-defined clusters.
Limitations:
Resolution limit: struggles to detect small communities in large networks.
Sensitive to network size and scale.

Affiliation Networks
Definition: Affiliation networks represent membership-based connections, where
individuals are linked by shared activities, groups, or events.
Examples: Social club memberships, corporate boards, conference attendees.
Structure: Typically bipartite, where one set of nodes represents individuals, and
the other represents groups or events.
Bipartite Graphs
Definition: Bipartite graphs are two-layered graphs where nodes are split into two
sets, with edges only between sets (not within).
Properties:
No edges between nodes within the same set.
Used to model affiliation networks.
Examples: User-product ratings, author-paper networks, actor-movie relationships.
Applications of Bipartite Graphs and Affiliation Networks
Community Detection: Identifying groups of users with shared interests.
Recommendation Systems: Suggesting products or services based on common

interests or behaviors.
Collaborative Networks: Analyzing co-authorship networks or organizational

collaboration.
Conclusion
Edge Betweenness: Critical for identifying bridging connections and community
boundaries.
Modularity Clustering: Evaluates community strength through internal and external

connectivity.
Affiliation Networks & Bipartite Graphs: Models relationships based on shared

affiliations and simplifies analysis through projections.

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Network communities and

Importance in Social Networks: Useful in sociology, marketing, recommendation

Low External Connectivity: Fewer connections to nodes outside the community.

Overlap and Hierarchy: Communities may overlap or form hierarchies

Conductance: Evaluates how well-separated a community is from the rest of the

Density: Ratio of the number of connections within a community to possible

Recommender Systems: Suggest content based on community-based

Biology: Identify functional modules or communities in biological networks (e.g.,

Purpose: Simplifies network analysis and focuses on distinct network segments.

Applications: Used in clustering, parallel computing, social analysis, and targeted

Community Detection: Identifies natural clusters or communities within networks.

Conductance: Measures how well a community or partition is separated,

Recommendation Systems: Grouping similar users for targeted content

Relevance: Helps maintain strong internal connectivity within communities.

Applications Across Fields: Valuable in social network analysis, recommendation

Future Prospects: Focus on scalable algorithms, dynamic partitioning, and

Rationale: Edges with high betweenness often connect distinct communities, so

Objective: To maximize the density of edges within communities and minimize

Effective in identifying community structures.

Widely used for networks with well-defined clusters.

Resolution limit: struggles to detect small communities in large networks.

Sensitive to network size and scale.

Examples: Social club memberships, corporate boards, conference attendees.

Recommendation Systems: Suggesting products or services based on common

Collaborative Networks: Analyzing co-authorship networks or organizational

Modularity Clustering: Evaluates community strength through internal and external

Affiliation Networks & Bipartite Graphs: Models relationships based on shared

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