Provide a Review of the Term Network Analysis

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The Answer is Network analysis is an approach to research that involves theory and methods designed to characterize and explain patterns of relationships (e.g., friendships, referrals) between a set of actors (e.g., people, organizations) in a system (e.g., workplace, coalition). Network analysts start by operationally defining the actors and relationships within a particular system. Next, they collect network data that assess the relationships between each pair of actors in the system. Finally, they analyze these network data, calculating metrics that characterize patterns of relationships across the whole system (i.e., network-level metrics), relationships between pairs of actors (i.e., dyad-level measures), and/or different actors' network positions (i.e., actor-level metrics).
Network analysis can be particularly powerful for answering evaluation questions that are relational in nature and can be applied to both process evaluations of program implementation and/or impact evaluations of program effectiveness. In process evaluations, network analysis is useful when evaluators and their community partners have questions about how relationships affect program adoption or implementation. In outcome evaluations, network analysis is useful when evaluators and their community partners have questions about how a program affects participants' relationships. Network analysis can also easily be integrated with participatory approaches to evaluation that involve community partners in the framing of questions, evaluation design, data collection, and analysis.

Provide a Review of the Term Network Analysis

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