TABLE 1.

Social network properties—nodes

Network property	Theoretical definition	Operational definition	Rhetorical significance	Mathematical foundation
Closeness	The position of the nodes within the network; Quantifies more relationships with fewer ties	The sum of the geodesic distances from an actor to all others	Represents independence and efficiency	Σjdij = Closeness of node j where dij is geodesic distance between node i and j
Betweenness	How often a node is involved in paths of other nodes	The proportion of all the shortest paths that pass through the focal actor	Shows the potential an individual has to serve as a “gatekeeper” of information	Σj<k(gjik/gjk) = Betweenness of node i where gjik is the number of geodesic paths between j & k that include i; gjk is the number of geodesic paths between j & k
Reciprocity	Bidirectional congruency of a tie between nodes	Agreement or perceived sameness of relationship	Strong (±) relationships tend to be more reciprocated and meaningful	(ΣT↔)/(ΣT) = Reciprocity of the chosen node(s) where T↔ represents total number of bidirectional ties and T is total number of all ties

(Hawe et al., 2004; Otte & Rousseau, 2002; Robins, 2015; Zohar & Tenne-Gazit, 2008)