Social Network Analysis

This thesis uses historical network research concepts to explore the connectivity of Jacobite Gaels in the mid-eighteenth century, in order to offer a more nuanced interpretation of their agency. The central methodology applied is Social Network Analysis (SNA), a series of techniques and tools that enable the better understanding of the social relationships between individuals. SNA can detect complex patterns of relationships that, in turn, can further illuminate the social structures, mechanisms and drivers underpinning network integration and connectivity. And, importantly, it offers the opportunity to identify central figures – often those that have been understudied or overlooked.

The framework for SNA throughout this thesis encapsulates a series of re-constructed netwoks. The core Gaels network is a cohort of Jacobite and Hanoverian Highlanders that were either supporters of Charles Edward Stuart’s attempt to restore the Stuart monarchy in 1745, or of the Hanoverian Crown and British government. From this central dataset, the network is further populated with their immediate familial relations, namely, their parents, spouses, children and siblings, and the direct connections between them are catalogued. Finally, any other close familial connections between those listed in the network are catalogued.

Analysis of the Gaels network is primarily based on a sociocentric research approach – the study of a network as a whole. However, this is complimented by a series of smaller ego-networks which focus on individuals and their immediate social environment, and provide the opportunity for a detailed exploration of an individual’s personal network. The key linkage requirement for ego network design is a direct tie with the central individual, but in contrast to the Gaels network (which has only familial linkage), several other connectivity factors are used including connections through kinship, along with those defined by economic, legal, and military circumstances.