Revisiting Bott to Connect the Dots: An Exploration of the Methodological Origins of Social Network Analysis

Abstract: Against a backdrop of a growing interest in qualitative and mixed-method approaches to social network analysis (SNA) and the exploration of ego-networks, in this article I revisit the pioneering urban families research of the social anthropologist and psychoanalyst Elizabeth BOTT (1971 [1957]) in the mid-twentieth century. While BOTT's work has been widely recognized as formative for contemporary approaches to, and concepts in, SNA, her methodological practice has been under-explored. In the discussion that follows I therefore seek first to precis the methods of data collection and analysis employed by BOTT with a view to distilling insights for current practice. In addition, I analyze the approach to research design taken by BOTT in order to better understand how the social networks innovation her work heralded was realized. https://www.qualitative-research.net/index.php/fqs/article/view/2905

Object Details

• Location: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Frankfurt am Main
• Extent: Online-Ressource
• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Revisiting Bott to Connect the Dots: An Exploration of the Methodological Origins of Social Network Analysis ; volume:19 ; number:2 ; day:30 ; month:03 ; year:2018 ; Forum qualitative Sozialforschung ; 19, Heft 2 (30.03.2018)

Contributors, Places and Time

• Creator: Jones, Alasdair

Further information

• DOI: 10.17169/fqs-19.2.2905
• URN: urn:nbn:de:101:1-2022011409510900791887
• Rights: Open Access; Der Zugriff auf das Objekt ist unbeschränkt möglich.
• Last update: 15.08.2025, 7:27 AM CEST