Strangers into friends
Subtitle: the evolution of friendship networks using an individual oriented modeling approach
By: Evelien Zeggelink.
Publisher: Thesis Publishers
Published: 1993
Place of publication: Amsterdam
Language: eng
Number of pages: 201
Subjects: Friendship -- Sociological aspects.; Friendship -- Psychological aspects.; Social sciences -- Network analysis.; Social sciences -- Mathematical models.
Description: Utterances like "Oh, we're just a group of friends" and "We don't have a leader, we're all equals" are often heard among members of a friendship network, but usually do not reflect reality. In general, friendship networks do show recognizable structures, but how these structures emerge is a question seldom addressed.

In this book, an answer to this question is given by the presentation of a dynamic individual oriented model that explains how a heterogeneous population of initially unrelated individuals (mutual strangers) can develop into a friendship network. The general elements of the model are developed on the basis of correspondences between the principles of object oriented modeling, automata networks, and methodological individualism in a graph theoretical representation.

Predictions of these models are compared with data that contain information about the development of friendship networks in classrooms.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [189]-201).
Originally presented as the author's thesis, University of Groningen, 1993.