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Connecting the Dots: Linking Centrality Measures to Peer Perceptions in Elementary School Friendship Networks Cover

Connecting the Dots: Linking Centrality Measures to Peer Perceptions in Elementary School Friendship Networks

Open Access
|Jun 2025

Figures & Tables

Figure 1:

Heat map visual display of partial correlations from the four estimated networks linking peer nomination variables to SNA centrality measures.
Heat map visual display of partial correlations from the four estimated networks linking peer nomination variables to SNA centrality measures.

Figure 2:

“Strength” and “Expected Influence” centrality z-scores for SNA centrality “degree”, “betweenness”, “closeness”, “eigenvector” and social reputation peer nomination variables.Note. Standardized z-scores: For node strength, values greater than zero indicate high strength.For EI, values further from zero indicate high influence, with positive or negative values indicating the direction of the influence. EI, expected influence; SNA, social network analysis.
“Strength” and “Expected Influence” centrality z-scores for SNA centrality “degree”, “betweenness”, “closeness”, “eigenvector” and social reputation peer nomination variables.Note. Standardized z-scores: For node strength, values greater than zero indicate high strength.For EI, values further from zero indicate high influence, with positive or negative values indicating the direction of the influence. EI, expected influence; SNA, social network analysis.

Figure 3:

Shortest paths between SNA centrality measures: (A) “degree”, (B) “betweenness”, (C) “closeness”, (D) “eigenvector”, and the social reputation peer nomination variables. Note.Estimated network. Blue lines = positive relationships; red lines = negative relationships. Thicker lines between variables indicates a stronger relationship. SNA, social network analysis.
Shortest paths between SNA centrality measures: (A) “degree”, (B) “betweenness”, (C) “closeness”, (D) “eigenvector”, and the social reputation peer nomination variables. Note.Estimated network. Blue lines = positive relationships; red lines = negative relationships. Thicker lines between variables indicates a stronger relationship. SNA, social network analysis.

Demographics and consent rate of classrooms involved in study_

School/ClassRacial breakdownMean age (years)GradeConsent rate (%)
School 1 (County 1)
Class 1 (N = 21)85.7% White, 14.3% Black11.3584.0
Class 2 (N = 21)66.7% White, 28.6% Black, 4.8% other races10.2487.5
Class 3 (N = 23)73.9% White, 26.1% Black11.2588.5
Class 4 (N = 23)87.0% White, 13.0% Black11.2585.2
Class 5 (N = 27)77.8% White, 22.2% Black11.55100
Class 6 (N = 20)70.0%White, 20.0% Black, 10% other races10.4487.0
Class 7 (N = 22)90.9% White, 9.1% Black11.3591.7
Class 8 (N = 19)78.9% White, 21.1% Black11.1579.0
Class 9 (N = 21)66.7% White, 23.8% Black, 9.5%other races10.3487.5
School 2 (County 2)
Class 10 (N = 22)77.3% White, 18.2% Black, 4.5% other races10.3488.0
Class 11 (N = 19)84.2% White, 10.5% Black, 5.3% other races10.2482.6
Class 12 (N = 23)95.7% White, 4.3% Black11.3595.8
Class 13 (N = 21)76.2% White, 19.1% Black, 4.8% other races11.3591.3
School 3 (County 3)
Class 14 (N = 13)92.3% Black, 7.7% White11.4581.3
Class 15 (N = 14)100% Black11.9582.4
School 4 (County 3)
Class 16 (N = 15)100% Black10.3483.3
Class 17 (N = 17)100% Black11.4585.0
Class 18 (N = 17)94.1% Black, 5.9% other races*589.5
Class 19 (N = 17)94.1% Black, 5.9% White*585.0
School 5 (County 4)
Class 20 (N = 15)66.7% Black, 33.3% White9.34100
Class 21 (N = 12)66.7% Black, 25.0% White, 8.3% other races9.3492.3
Class 22 (N = 15)60.0% Black, 40.0% White9.44100
Class 23 (N = 13)53.9% Black, 38.5% White, 7.7% other races10.3592.9
Class 24 (N = 15)66.7% Black, 26.7% White, 6.7% other races10.5593.8
Class 25 (N = 14)64.3% Black, 21.4% White, 14.3% other races10.4593.3
School 6 (County 5)
Class 26 (N = 14)78.6% Black, 21.4% White9.4487.5

Relationships between centrality measures and peer nomination concepts_

Centrality measureStrongest associated peer nomination conceptsCorrelation strength
DegreeLike to play with mostStrong positive (r = 0.48)
Like to play with leastWeak negative (r = –0.12)
AdmireWeak positive (r = 0.11)
BetweennessLike to play with mostModerate positive (r = 0.20)
ClosenessLike to play with mostModerate positive (r = 0.19)
AdmireWeak positive (r = 0.09)
EigenvectorLike to play with mostModerate positive (r = 0.21)
Like to play with leastWeak negative (r = -0.14)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.21307/connections-2019.058 | Journal eISSN: 2816-4245 | Journal ISSN: 0226-1766
Language: English
Page range: 1 - 14
Published on: Jun 19, 2025
Published by: International Network for Social Network Analysis (INSNA)
In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services
Publication frequency: 1 issue per year

© 2025 Tyler Prochnow, Samuel Keightley, Megan S. Patterson, Michele Lease, published by International Network for Social Network Analysis (INSNA)
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.