Bruce Hoppe provides a link to an interesting article by Cathleen McGrath (College of Business Administration, Loyola Marymount University) and Jim Blythe (Information Sciences Institute, USC) on the effect of visualization methods in analyzing social networks.
The abstract states: “In this study, we explore the combined effects of layout and motion on viewers' perceptions of social network data. We ask viewers to interpret the overall network and we ask domain specific questions about managing change within a departmental team to understand how network display influences viewers' overall perception of networks. We find that motion has a positive effect on the accuracy of viewers' perceptions of change in status from formal to informal networks. We also find no main effect for hierarchical versus spatially central layout on viewers' accuracy. There is a significant interaction effect of motion and graph layout on viewers perception of change. Finally, we find that when viewers are asked to make interpretations of the overall graph, they bring their own pre-existing graphical vocabulary that may influence their interpretation.”
Bruce adds: “I am struck that not only does the layout heavily influence perception of the organization, but also some observers are biased to prefer formal hierarchy and others not, when asked the same question (ability to change).”
I certainly agree with the positive effect that motion provides having seen Peter Gloor’s CKN tool in operation. It is nice to now see some research that supports this perception.
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