Community structure and ethnic preferences in school friendship networks |
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Authors: | M.C. Gonzá lez,H.J. Herrmann,J. Kerté sz,T. Vicsek |
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Affiliation: | 1. Institute for Computational Physics, Universität Stuttgart, Pfaffenwaldring 27, D-70569 Stuttgart, Germany;2. Departamento de Física, Universidade Federal do Ceará, 60451-970 Fortaleza, Brazil;3. IfB, HIF E12, ETH Hönggerberg, CH-8093 Zürich, Switzerland;4. Institute of Physics, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, H-1111 Budafoki út. 8., Budapest, Hungary;5. Department of Biological Physics and Statistical and Biological Physics Research Group of HAS, Eötvös Loránd University, H-1117, Pázmány P. Sétány 1A, Budapest, Hungary |
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Abstract: | Recently developed concepts and techniques of analyzing complex systems provide new insight into the structure of social networks. Uncovering recurrent preferences and organizational principles in such networks is a key issue to characterize them. We investigate school friendship networks from the Add Health database. Applying threshold analysis, we find that the friendship networks do not form a single connected component through mutual strong nominations within a school, while under weaker conditions such interconnectedness is present. We extract the networks of overlapping communities at the schools (c-networks) and find that they are scale free and disassortative in contrast to the direct friendship networks, which have an exponential degree distribution and are assortative. Based on the network analysis we study the ethnic preferences in friendship selection. The clique percolation method we use reveals that when in minority, the students tend to build more densely interconnected groups of friends. We also find an asymmetry in the behavior of black minorities in a white majority as compared to that of white minorities in a black majority. |
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Keywords: | Social preferences Community structure Social contacts Complex networks |
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