Social Network Analysis for Disaster Management Research

Disaster survivors and scholars alike argue that the presence, dearth, and type of social networks in a community can enable or limit disaster adaptation, response, evacuation, and recovery. But what kinds of networks can we examine in disaster studies? This chapter seeks to make social network analysis methods accessible to students and scholars of disaster policy. Using a network of disaster reconstruction committee members after Japan’s 2011 tsunami and earthquake, we demonstrate different techniques for network visualization, analysis, and statistics. First, we introduce readers to the logic and types of networks they may encounter, drawing from recent examples. Second, we lay out a process for analyzing networks, describing centrality measures, visualization, and statistical models. These accessible techniques allow us to identify what kinds of social ties affect recovery and how we can leverage these to improve disaster outcomes.