Net-Map Toolbox
Encyclopedia
The net-map toolbox is a social network analysis tool that uses interviews and mapping to help people understand, visualize, discuss, and improve situations in which many different actors influence outcomes. Social network analysis is a research approach used by scholars such as S.D. Berkowitz, Stephen Borgatti, Ronald Burt, Linton Freeman, Mark Granovetter
, Nicholas Mullins, Anatol Rapoport
, Stanley Wasserman, Barry Wellman
, and Harrison White
to better understand the implications of the position of individual actors in a social structure.
Individuals create influence network maps using materials from a physical toolkit. The kit includes small figures that represent different actors. Lines are drawn to link the actors and reveal how they are connected or not connected, and “influence towers” are built to reflect the relative power of each actor (the higher the influence tower, the greater the influence). Photos displaying influence network maps are available on the Net-Map blog: http://netmap.ifpriblog.org.
in Washington, DC. Dr. Schiffer developed the toolbox while working on a project in Ghana with the Challenge Program on Water and Food, a system-wide program of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research
. Net-Map expands on the Power Mapping Tool (http://www.ifpri.org/publication/tracing-power-and-influence-networks). The White Volta River Basin Board in rural Ghana, responsible for overseeing local water resources, was looking to enhance decision making among its many collaborators. The Board used Net-Map to identify its partners, its linkages with those partners, and their distinct goals and levels of influence. A representation of the Board’s network map is available in a World Bank
Sourcebook for Development Practitioners. Net-Map was also presented at the International Network of Social Network Analysis' International Sunbelt Social Network Conference in 2007.
Several researchers have made the case for visual network mapping, specifically in improving development projects. , a monitoring and evaluation specialist based in the United Kingdom, supports the use of a network perspective in representing and evaluating aid interventions. Boru Douthwaite, a Technology Policy Analyst at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture
(CIAT) has used Participatory Impact Pathways Analysis (PIPA), which draws on many of the same concepts as Net-Map, to evaluate and manage development projects by directly engaging the participants. PIPA has been implemented through several workshops across the developing world, and is being developed by Mr. Douthwaite and other researchers from CIAT, as well as the WorldFish Center
and the International Potato Center
. The New Tactics in Human Rights Project—led by a diverse group of human rights international organizations, advisors and practitioners—uses visual network representations as one of its various innovative tools to promote human rights and end human rights abuses.
The International Fund for Agricultural Development
(IFAD) funded the rehabilitation of small reservoirs in Northern Ghana, but IFAD also wanted to understand the governance aspects of small reservoir maintenance so that local institutions could manage and maintain the infrastructure. A collaborative project between IFAD, IFPRI, and the University of Bonn, used Net-Map to understand the role of Water User Associations, formed under the IFAD project, and other actors in local natural resources governance networks in Northern Ghana.
The International Food Policy Research Institute
has used Net-Map in numerous cases, e.g. to understand the links between research and policy making in Nigeria and Malawi, to improve the effectiveness of an HIV/Aids and Nutrition Network in Africa (RENEWAL), to improve communication and implementation concerning pro-poor avian influenza mitigation (case studies in Ghana and Ethiopia).
Mark Granovetter
Professor Mark Granovetter is an American sociologist at Stanford University who has created theories in modern sociology since the 1970s. He is best known for his work in social network theory and in economic sociology, particularly his theory on the spread of information in social networks known...
, Nicholas Mullins, Anatol Rapoport
Anatol Rapoport
Anatol Rapoport was a Russian-born American Jewish mathematical psychologist. He contributed to general systems theory, mathematical biology and to the mathematical modeling of social interaction and stochastic models of contagion.-Biography:...
, Stanley Wasserman, Barry Wellman
Barry Wellman
Barry Wellman, FRSC directs NetLab as the S.D. Clark Professor of Sociology at the University of Toronto. His areas of research are community sociology, the Internet, human-computer interaction and social structure, as manifested in social networks in communities and organizations...
, and Harrison White
Harrison White
Harrison Colyar White is the emeritus Giddings Professor of Sociology at Columbia University. White is an influential scholar in the domain of social networks. He is credited with the development of a number of mathematical models of social structure including vacancy chains and blockmodels...
to better understand the implications of the position of individual actors in a social structure.
Individuals create influence network maps using materials from a physical toolkit. The kit includes small figures that represent different actors. Lines are drawn to link the actors and reveal how they are connected or not connected, and “influence towers” are built to reflect the relative power of each actor (the higher the influence tower, the greater the influence). Photos displaying influence network maps are available on the Net-Map blog: http://netmap.ifpriblog.org.
History of net-map
Net-map was created in 2006 by Eva Schiffer, then a post-doctoral fellow at the International Food Policy Research InstituteInternational Food Policy Research Institute
The International Food Policy Research Institute is an international agricultural research center founded in the early 1970s to improve the understanding of national agricultural and food policies to promote the adoption of innovations in agricultural technology...
in Washington, DC. Dr. Schiffer developed the toolbox while working on a project in Ghana with the Challenge Program on Water and Food, a system-wide program of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research
Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research
The CGIAR is a strategic alliance that unites organizations involved in agricultural research for sustainable development with the donors that fund such work. These donors include governments of developing and industrialized countries, foundations and international and regional organizations...
. Net-Map expands on the Power Mapping Tool (http://www.ifpri.org/publication/tracing-power-and-influence-networks). The White Volta River Basin Board in rural Ghana, responsible for overseeing local water resources, was looking to enhance decision making among its many collaborators. The Board used Net-Map to identify its partners, its linkages with those partners, and their distinct goals and levels of influence. A representation of the Board’s network map is available in a World Bank
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...
Sourcebook for Development Practitioners. Net-Map was also presented at the International Network of Social Network Analysis' International Sunbelt Social Network Conference in 2007.
Several researchers have made the case for visual network mapping, specifically in improving development projects. , a monitoring and evaluation specialist based in the United Kingdom, supports the use of a network perspective in representing and evaluating aid interventions. Boru Douthwaite, a Technology Policy Analyst at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture
International Center for Tropical Agriculture
The International Center for Tropical Agriculture is a not-for-profit research and development organization dedicated to reducing poverty and hunger while protecting natural resources in developing countries...
(CIAT) has used Participatory Impact Pathways Analysis (PIPA), which draws on many of the same concepts as Net-Map, to evaluate and manage development projects by directly engaging the participants. PIPA has been implemented through several workshops across the developing world, and is being developed by Mr. Douthwaite and other researchers from CIAT, as well as the WorldFish Center
WorldFish Center
The WorldFish Center an organization dedicated to reducing poverty and hunger by improving fisheries and aquaculture. It is an international, non-profit research organization that focuses on the opportunities provided by fisheries and aquaculture to reduce poverty, hunger and vulnerability in...
and the International Potato Center
International Potato Center
The International Potato Center is a root and tuber research-for-development institution located in Lima, Peru...
. The New Tactics in Human Rights Project—led by a diverse group of human rights international organizations, advisors and practitioners—uses visual network representations as one of its various innovative tools to promote human rights and end human rights abuses.
Applications
Net-Map has also been applied directly, with the results documented in case studies, also available on the Net-Map blog. A research project on fisheries management in small reservoirs in Ghana, conducted by Ph.D. student Jennifer Hauck through the University of Bonn’s Center for Development Research (ZEF), focused on understanding networks on an individual actor level. Ms. Hauck adapted the Net-Map Toolbox by using local parts purchased in Ghana, including spare bicycle parts, reflecting Net-Map’s versatility.The International Fund for Agricultural Development
International Fund for Agricultural Development
The International Fund for Agricultural Development , a specialized agency of the United Nations, was established as an international financial institution in 1977 as one of the major outcomes of the 1974 World Food Conference. IFAD is dedicated to eradicating rural poverty in developing countries...
(IFAD) funded the rehabilitation of small reservoirs in Northern Ghana, but IFAD also wanted to understand the governance aspects of small reservoir maintenance so that local institutions could manage and maintain the infrastructure. A collaborative project between IFAD, IFPRI, and the University of Bonn, used Net-Map to understand the role of Water User Associations, formed under the IFAD project, and other actors in local natural resources governance networks in Northern Ghana.
The International Food Policy Research Institute
International Food Policy Research Institute
The International Food Policy Research Institute is an international agricultural research center founded in the early 1970s to improve the understanding of national agricultural and food policies to promote the adoption of innovations in agricultural technology...
has used Net-Map in numerous cases, e.g. to understand the links between research and policy making in Nigeria and Malawi, to improve the effectiveness of an HIV/Aids and Nutrition Network in Africa (RENEWAL), to improve communication and implementation concerning pro-poor avian influenza mitigation (case studies in Ghana and Ethiopia).
Awards
In recognition of Eva Schiffer's development of the Net-Map Toolbox, she was awarded the 2008 CGIAR Promising Young Scientist Award.External links
- Net-Map Toolbox Blog
- International Food Policy Research Institute
- Challenge Program on Water and Food
- International Network of Social Network Analysis
- Monitoring and Evaluation News (MandE News)
- Participatory Impact Pathways Analysis
- New Tactics in Human Rights
- University of Bonn
- Center for Development Research (ZEF)
- International Fund for Agricultural Development