Blockmodels with maximum concentration

Jessop, A.

doi:10.1016/s0377-2217(02)00361-2

Blockmodels with maximum concentration

Jessop, A.

Authors

A. Jessop

Abstract

There are many circumstances in which binary relations are defined between pairs of objects: in sociology there are social relations between people; in business there are trading relations between firms; in design there are functional dependencies between components. In all of these the clustering of objects into densely interconnected blocks reveals something of the structure of the system. In this paper a criterion is presented which permits the construction of blocks to be formulated as a quadratic programme. The method is applied to two illustrative cases: the pattern of elective choices by MBA students and the performance assessment of British universities. The method is shown to give results which are readily interpreted and, for the purpose of performance ranking, leads to a more realistic description of achievement.

Citation

Jessop, A. (2003). Blockmodels with maximum concentration. European Journal of Operational Research, 148(1), 56-64. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0377-2217%2802%2900361-2

Journal Article Type	Article
Publication Date	Jul 1, 2003
Deposit Date	Aug 29, 2008
Publicly Available Date	Aug 29, 2008
Journal	European Journal of Operational Research
Print ISSN	0377-2217
Publisher	Elsevier
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	148
Issue	1
Pages	56-64
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1016/s0377-2217%2802%2900361-2
Keywords	Quadratic programming, Blockmodel, Multiple criteria analysis.