network analysis
the study of the relationships among sampling units (e.g., individuals) within an interconnected group of such units (e.g., a friendship network) and the implications of these networks for the system in which they occur. In organizational contexts, for example, network analysis involves identifying patterns of communication, influence, liking, and other interpersonal behaviors and attitudes among employees and quantifying them in statistical and graphical models. Properties of systems are assumed to be emergent, that is, not immediately predictable from a knowledge of networks among individuals. See also sociometry.