After establishing its mathematical foundations, this integrated study of blockmodeling, the most frequently used technique in social network analysis, generalizes blockmodeling for the examination of many network structures. It also includes a broad introduction to cluster analysis. The authors propose direct optimizational approaches to blockmodeling which yield blockmodels that best fit the data, and create the potential for many generalizations and a deductive use of blockmodeling.

This book explores social mechanisms that drive network change and link them to computationally sound models of changing structure to detect patterns. This text identifies the social processes generating these networks and how networks have evolved.

Reviews:
"this book is easy to read and entertaining, and much can be learned from it. Even if you know just about
everything about large-scale and temporal networks, the book is a worthwhile read; you will learn a lot about SNA literature, patents, the US Supreme Court, and European soccer." (Social Networks)

"a...