Structural equivalence: Meaning and definition, computation and application

A generalization of the concept of “structural equivalence”, the key concept in algebraic approaches to the study of social networks, is presented, suggesting that this new definition suitably weakens Lorrain and White's categorical approach, and is more appropriate than CONCOR.

Abstract

This paper presents a generalization of the concept of "structural equivalence", the key concept in algebraic approaches to the study of social networks. Two points in a graph or set of relations will be called "structurally related" if they are connected in the same ways to structurally related points. It is suggested that this new definition suitably weakens Lorrain and White's categorical approach, and is more appropriate than CONCOR. Structural relatedness is compared to these approaches via several simple examples.