Entropy based evaluation of net structures – deployed in Social Network Analysis

The analysis of Social Networks widely is based on their respective graphical structures. Centrality measures of actors usually consider their position in a graph. Sometimes graphs are an insufficient medium to represent social structures. In this paper the authors propose a new framework with the purpose to analyze social fabric correctly: information theory. A set of conditionals forms the knowledge base about the network’s structure. Once the knowledge base is adapted under maximum entropy or minimum cross-entropy a new form of analysis is available. The construction of knowledge bases and their analyses are realized in the expert system shell SPIRIT.