A Retrospective Review of Social Networks

Social network analysis deals with the interactions between individuals by considering them as nodes of a network (graph) whereas their relations are mapped as network edges. Study of such structures lies on the intersection of two different areas of research: sociology and graph theory. In this paper we give an overview of the mathematical concepts used for studying these networks as well as the major methodologies employed for the study of them. Most prominent applications and dominant research trends of the field are also discussed.