SocialNetSense: Supporting sensemaking of social and structural features in networks with interactive visualization

Liang Gou, Xiaolong Zhang, Airong Luo, Patricia F. Anderson

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

9 Scopus citations

Abstract

Increasingly, social network datasets contain social attribute information about actors and their relationship. Analyzing such network with social attributes requires making sense of not only its structural features, but also the relationship between social features in attributes and network structures. Existing social network analysis tools are usually weak in supporting complex analytical tasks involving both structural and social features, and often overlook users' needs for sensemaking tools that help to gather, synthesize, and organize information of these features. To address these challenges, we propose a sensemaking framework of social-network visual analytics in this paper. This framework considers both bottom-up processes, which are about constructing new understandings based on collected information, and top-down processes, which concern using prior knowledge to guide information collection, in analyzing social networks from both social and structural perspectives. The framework also emphasizes the externalization of sensemaking processes through interactive visualization. Guided by the framework, we develop a system, SocialNetSense, to support the sensemaking in visual analytics of social networks with social attributes. The example of using our system to analyze a scholar collaboration network shows that our approach can help users gain insight into social networks both structurally and socially, and enhance their process awareness in visual analytics.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationIEEE Conference on Visual Analytics Science and Technology 2012, VAST 2012 - Proceedings
Pages133-142
Number of pages10
DOIs
StatePublished - 2012
Event2012 IEEE Conference on Visual Analytics Science and Technology, VAST 2012 - Seattle, WA, United States
Duration: Oct 14 2012Oct 19 2012

Publication series

NameIEEE Conference on Visual Analytics Science and Technology 2012, VAST 2012 - Proceedings

Other

Other2012 IEEE Conference on Visual Analytics Science and Technology, VAST 2012
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CitySeattle, WA
Period10/14/1210/19/12

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Computer Science Applications
  • Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition

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