as mentioned in an earlier comment by Harvey Garcia, Social Network Analysis (SNA) is an interesting tool to use in evaluations. I am currently part of a team working with CGIAR Evaluation Function. We are evaluating CGIAR Genebank Platform and planning for a SNA which would help CGIAR and Genebanks identify key nodes/actors/partners and study their relationships and interaction patterns to explore how relevant and effective the Genebank Platform has been and how well the platform catered to the needs of its users and partners.
SNA is often used to analyse and improve communication flows in within organizations or with their network of partners. It is helpful in visualization of data so as to uncover patterns in relationships and interactions.
For this specific evaluation, the analysis will provide useful insights in terms of assessing the existing communication flows and how these relationships can be used to further strengthen the functioning of the organization and/or CGIAR initiative.
In the present evaluation, SNA will help:
Identify the key/central nodes (partners, in the current study) in the network that can be key to driving organizational goals effectively and efficiently.
Improve communication flows with and within CGIAR partners.
Identify relationships and strengths of these relationships among partners which can help save time and effort in driving initiatives and identifying optimal paths.
Understand the information flow within the network and try to build preferential flows.
Apply intuitive visualization layouts to depict relationships and their strenght, density and reciprocity. SNA data visualization techniques cut through noisy social network data and reveal parts of the network that need attention. The figure of the blog Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much copied below is an example of how SNA would be presented visually.
The questions to chalk the patterns of interactions and identify strengths of the relationships will be incorporated into the online questionnaire or interviews used for the evaluation and will be analyzed using Gephi or any other online SNA tool like Pajek or UCINET.
RE: Can visual tools help evaluators communicate and engage better?
Dear all,
as mentioned in an earlier comment by Harvey Garcia, Social Network Analysis (SNA) is an interesting tool to use in evaluations. I am currently part of a team working with CGIAR Evaluation Function. We are evaluating CGIAR Genebank Platform and planning for a SNA which would help CGIAR and Genebanks identify key nodes/actors/partners and study their relationships and interaction patterns to explore how relevant and effective the Genebank Platform has been and how well the platform catered to the needs of its users and partners.
SNA is often used to analyse and improve communication flows in within organizations or with their network of partners. It is helpful in visualization of data so as to uncover patterns in relationships and interactions.
For this specific evaluation, the analysis will provide useful insights in terms of assessing the existing communication flows and how these relationships can be used to further strengthen the functioning of the organization and/or CGIAR initiative.
In the present evaluation, SNA will help:
The questions to chalk the patterns of interactions and identify strengths of the relationships will be incorporated into the online questionnaire or interviews used for the evaluation and will be analyzed using Gephi or any other online SNA tool like Pajek or UCINET.