One of the major concerns of social network analysis is identification of cohesive subgroups of actors within a network. Cohesive subgroups are subsets of actors among whom there are relatively strong, direct, intense, frequent, or positive ties. These methods attempt, in part, to formalize the intuitive and theoretical notion of social group using social network properties. However, since the concept of social group as used by social and behavioral scientists is quite general, and there are many specific properties of a social network that are related to the cohesiveness of subgroups, there are many possible social network subgroup definitions.

In this chapter and the next we discuss methods for finding cohesive subgroups of actors within a social network. In this chapter we discuss methods for analyzing one-mode networks, with a single set of actors and a single relation. In Chapter 8 we continue the discussion of cohesive subgroups and related ideas, but focus on affiliation networks. Affiliation networks are two-mode networks consisting of a set of actors and a set of events. Cohesive subgroups in one-mode networks focus on properties of pairwise ties, whereas cohesive subgroups in two-mode affiliation networks focus on ties existing among actors through their joint membership in collectivities. Thus, one major difference between this chapter and the next is whether one-mode or two-mode data are being analyzed.

We begin with an overview of the theoretical motivation for studying cohesive subgroups in social networks and discuss general properties of cohesive subgroups that have influenced network formalizations.