Anthropologist Bruce Kapferer embarked on an insightful study into the dynamics of conflict among workers in a Zambian mining operation. Through meticulous observation, Kapferer sought to unravel the complexities of workplace relationships and their role in the development and eventual resolution of a dispute that was primarily between two men, Abraham and Donald.
This conflict, which saw most workers siding with Abraham, provided a fertile ground for examining the network of interactions that underpin social conflicts. To dissect the layers of this interaction, Kapferer differentiated between uniplex ties, whichare connections based on a single type of relationship depicted in the matrix KAPFMU, and multiplex ties, which are more intricate connections that encompass multiple types of relationships, as illustrated in the matrix KAPFMM. Both matrices are symmetric and binary, offering a structured lens through which the social ties among the miners could be analyzed,laying the groundwork for what would become a pivotal study in network analysis and its application in conflict studies.
Research questions targetting this project
- Examine the dataset to grasp the core characteristics of the network. Determine which type of Network Analysis, whether a Static Network Analysis or a Dynamic Network Analysis would be more appropriate for this. 2.How does the structure of the KAPFMM network differs from the KAPFMU network in terms of centrality, modularity, and community, and how do these measures compare when accounting for the presence of isolates?
- What are the fundamental structural patterns within the KAPFMM network, and in what ways do they correlate with the network's coreness distribution and assortativity metrics?
- In what manner does employing block modeling and structural equivalence analysis contribute to a deeper understanding of community structures within the KAPFMM network?