Reliable network inference from unreliable data: A tutorial on latent network modeling using STRAND.

Redhead, Daniel; McElreath, Richard; Ross, Cody T.

doi:10.1037/met0000519

Cited by 16 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 121 publications

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“…[208]) and network inference are continually being developed and refined. Generative network models, such as exponential random graph models [209], stochastic actor-oriented models [210], and latent network frameworks [211] hold particular promise, as they allow for the simultaneous consideration of multiple mechanisms operating across scales. New tools that allow for yet more complex network structure (e.g.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social hierarchies and social networks in humans

Redhead

Power

2022

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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Across species, social hierarchies are often governed by dominance relations. In humans, where there are multiple culturally valued axes of distinction, social hierarchies can take a variety of forms and need not rest on dominance relations. Consequently, humans navigate multiple domains of status, i.e. relative standing. Importantly, while these hierarchies may be constructed from dyadic interactions, they are often more fundamentally guided by subjective peer evaluations and group perceptions. Researchers have typically focused on the distinct elements that shape individuals’ relative standing, with some emphasizing individual-level attributes and others outlining emergent macro-level structural outcomes. Here, we synthesize work across the social sciences to suggest that the dynamic interplay between individual-level and meso-level properties of the social networks in which individuals are embedded are crucial for understanding the diverse processes of status differentiation across groups. More specifically, we observe that humans not only navigate multiple social hierarchies at any given time but also simultaneously operate within multiple, overlapping social networks. There are important dynamic feedbacks between social hierarchies and the characteristics of social networks, as the types of social relationships, their structural properties, and the relative position of individuals within them both influence and are influenced by status differentiation. This article is part of the theme issue ‘The centennial of the pecking order: current state and future prospects for the study of dominance hierarchies’.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social hierarchies and social networks in humans

Redhead

Power

2022

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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“…To analyze these networks, we developed a stochastic blockmodel that accounts for censoring introduced by the focal-follow methodology. More specifically, we extend an existing model for binary cross-sectional data [see ( 54 , 55 )] to adjust for the uneven sampling that characterized our repeated-observation design. Our model can be written succinctly asY[i,j,d]∼Bernoullifalse(ϕfalse[i,jfalse]false)∣i<j∧C[i,j,d]=1∧Z[i,j,d]=1logitfalse(ϕfalse[i,jfalse]false)=normalα[Afalse(ifalse),Afalse(jfalse)]+X[i,j]βwhere Y [ i , j , d ] is an indicator for if individuals i and j were observed coforaging together on day d , ϕ [ i , j ] is the predicted probability that individuals i and j coforage together, C [ i , j , d ] is an indicator of whether individuals i and j were both in-camp on day d , Z [ i , j , d ] is a censoring mask for day d (defined in more detail later), α is a K × K matrix of within- and between-age-class intercept offset parameters, A(i) is a function returning the age class of individual i , β is a vector of regression coefficients, and X [ i , j ] is a row vector of dyadic covariate data.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Women’s subsistence networks scaffold cultural transmission among BaYaka foragers in the Congo Basin

Jang,

Ross,

Boyette

et al. 2024

Sci. Adv.

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In hunter-gatherer societies, women’s subsistence activities are crucial for food provisioning and children’s social learning but are understudied relative to men’s activities. To understand the structure of women’s foraging networks, we present 230 days of focal-follow data in a BaYaka community. To analyze these data, we develop a stochastic blockmodel for repeat observations with uneven sampling. We find that women’s subsistence networks are characterized by cooperation between kin, gender homophily, and mixed age-group composition. During early childhood, individuals preferentially coforage with adult kin, but those in middle childhood and adolescence are likely to coforage with nonkin peers, providing opportunities for horizontal learning. By quantifying the probability of coforaging ties across age classes and relatedness levels, our findings provide insights into the scope for social learning during women’s subsistence activities in a real-world foraging population and provide ground-truth values for key parameters used in formal models of cumulative culture.

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“…We applied Bayesian social network analysis to estimate whether the demographic features of the population structured these social networks. More specifically, we applied a combined social relations and stochastic block model using the STRAND R package (Redhead, McElreath et al, 2023; Ross et al, 2023, version 0.2.0). We specified a model for binomial data and adjusted for the number of times an individual was observed in the data within the model.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We included a combined variable for age class and sex, with adult males and adult females being specified as blocks within the stochastic blockmodel. Accordingly, we were able to estimate whether the probability of observing associations was higher between adults of the same or different sexes (see Redhead, McElreath et al, 2023; Ross et al, 2023, for detailed technical outlines). To aid in interpretation of the results, we computed the contrast coefficient ∆ and highest posterior density intervals ( HPDI ) from the posterior distribution of the age/sex parameters included in our stochastic blockmodel (reflecting how such models have been interpreted in previous research, e.g., Gettler et al, 2023, Redhead, Ragione et al, 2023).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Camera traps unveil demography, social structure, and home range of six unhabituated Western chimpanzee groups in the Moyen Bafing National Park, Guinea

Debetencourt,

Barry,

Arandjelovic

et al. 2023

American J Primatol

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Precise estimates of population dynamics and social grouping patterns are required for effective conservation of wild animal populations. It is difficult to obtain such information on non‐human great apes as they have slow reproductive rates. To gain a better understanding of demography in these populations, previous research has typically involved habituation\, a process that requires years. Here, we collected data continuously over year‐long periods to monitor an unhabituated population of critically endangered Western chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) in the Moyen Bafing National Park, Guinea. We used two arrays of 100 camera traps that were placed opportunistically in two distinct 100 km2 sites, named Bakoun and Koukoutamba. We identified 227 individuals in Bakoun and 207 in Koukoutamba through their unique facial features. Our camera trap data make clear that these individuals belong to six and seven closed groups, respectively. Six of those groups were near‐completely sampled with an average minimum size of 46.8 individuals (range: 37–58), and a mean adult sex ratio of 1.32 (range: 0.93–2.10). We described the demographic composition of these groups and use Bayesian social network analysis to understand population structure. The network analyses suggested that the social bonds within the two populations were structured by sex homophily, with male chimpanzees being more or equally likely to be observed together than other adult associations. Through estimation of minimum convex polygons, we described the minimum home range for those groups. Compared to other chimpanzee groups living in a similar environment (mosaic savanna‐forest), the Moyen Bafing region seems to host a high‐density of chimpanzees with small home ranges for their group size. Our research highlights the potential of camera traps for studying the demographic composition of chimpanzee populations with high resolution and obtaining crucial information on several groups in a time‐efficient and cost‐effective way.

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Reliable network inference from unreliable data: A tutorial on latent network modeling using STRAND.

Cited by 16 publications

References 121 publications

Social hierarchies and social networks in humans

Social hierarchies and social networks in humans

Women’s subsistence networks scaffold cultural transmission among BaYaka foragers in the Congo Basin

Camera traps unveil demography, social structure, and home range of six unhabituated Western chimpanzee groups in the Moyen Bafing National Park, Guinea

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