Agna - What Is Agna

This software can help you if you study communication relations in groups, kinship relations or the structure of animal behavior - to mention just a few realms where it can be used.

First, with Agna, you can create, edit, store, analyze, and visualize networks. Second, Agna allows you to create networks from (behavioral) chains.

WHAT IS NETWORK ANALYSIS

Network analysis (or social network analysis) is a set of mathematical methods used in social psychology, sociology, ethology, and anthropology.

This methodology assumes that the way the members of a group can communicate to each other affect some important properties of that group (such as performance, leadership, work satisfaction etc.)

A network models generally a communication group. It consists of a number of nodes (each node corresponding to a member of the group) and a number of edges (each one being associated to a communication connection between two actors).

Network data is stored in the adjacency matrix (or the sociomatrix). Commonly, the [i,j] element of the adjacency matrix refers to the communication behavior of actor �i� to actor �j�.

WHAT IS SEQUENTIAL ANALYSIS

Sequential analysis deals with behavioral chains.

After recording the behavior of an animal in specific conditions, the ethologist divides the whole behavioral chain into basic sequential units/codes.

One way of interpreting behavioral chain data is sequential analysis: that is, finding constants and rules that govern the inner structure of behavior. The elements of a chain�s dyad transition matrix represent the frequencies of all successive pair of sequential codes [i,j].In sequential analysis, a network represents the inner structure of a behavioral chain.

Mathematical treatment of both adjacency matrix (in network analysis) and dyad transition matrix (in sequential analysis) is sometimes similar. What differs is the meaning of the analyses performed.

To find out more about social network analysis and sequential analysis, visit these links.