George
Homans, an American sociologist, was a key contributor to the development of
social network analysis in the sociology trajectory.
Influenced by Lawrence Henderson,
Elton Mayo, Radcliffe Brown, Malinowski, and Lloyd Warner, Homans focused his
research on systems, social relations and their structures especially in small
groups. This research led to his classic work “The Human Group” (Homans, 1950)
that has influenced other theories such as James Coleman’s (1990) – ‘Theory of
Social Action and Capital’.
Homans conceptualizes human interaction in two
different systems: an external system composed of a set of relations among
group members, and an internal system which emerges out of the external system
and which reacts to that system.
His book is the first comprehensive account of
small-group research that combines the insights from psychology and social
anthropology. Homans' book describes and synthesizes all techniques and
theoretical insights such as matrices, socio-grams and kinship diagrams that
were being used in his day. His book is important for social network
analysis in that it offers a theoretical framework linking social relations
with sentiments, a framework that later developed into what has come to be
known as exchange theory.
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