http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0731-1214%28199524%2938%3A4%3C519%3ADAENS%3E2.0.CO%3B2-O

The above link will direct you to an article by Barry Markovsky from Sociological Perspectives. Markovsky created a model for predicting which nodes have power in Network Exchange Theory experiments. This article discusses his approach to creating “X-Net,” a computer program that simulates outcomes of resource exchanges in networks. His program uses an “iterative” rather than “analytic” approach that he says produces more realistic, experimental results.

Markovsky had little experience with programming, but he used QuickBASIC, which is based on Microsoft’s BASIC programming language. In order to feed the computer network graphs, he used matrices of 1’s and 0’s to indicate nodes and edges in the network. The computer model could simulate Network Exchange Theory well because it satisfied one condition of network exchange theory, that all nodes have a common objective and do not demonstrate idiosyncratic behavior. However, the theory does not explain how negotiations should take place and how a computational model should handle the individual interactions between nodes. Markovsky approached this problem by dividing his program into various levels. The top level was the most general—the experiment as a whole, and the lowest was the most specific—the “actions” level, which included the offers and counteroffers made by the nodes. X-Net removes nodes from the network that have already made exchanges until no nodes remain.

It is interesting to see how a computational model can run experiments on networks. It makes sense to use the computer to carry out many of rounds of each experiment, which involves many iterative processes. I am still uncertain about where X-Net falls in between practical experiments and mathematical predictions for Network Exchange Theory experiments. I would like Markovsky to elaborate on how his model’s results compare to theories and practical tests. It would be interesting to use his program to simulate some of the network exchange experiments we discussed in class and compare the results to our predictions. I searched for a download of X-Net on Google, but I could not find one. Markovsky says that his model is important and can be used to make generalizations about network exchange, but it would be dangerous to make these generalizations without support from both theoretical and practical data.