Functional interactions in complex networks: A three-step methodology for the implementation of the relevance index (RI)

Abstract

In order to enable the management of the large presence of similar groups of agents, namely masks, resulting from the implementation of the Relevance Index (RI) algorithm, the ‘PoSH-CADDy’ three-step methodology is here proposed. The developed procedure is based on (i) several rounds of analysis to be performed over reducing sets of agents (with a Progressive Skimming procedure), (ii) the consideration of the overlaps among masks emerging from the output of each round (by means of a Hierachical Cluster Analysis), (iii) a final analysis of the masks remaining from the previous steps (by considering those with a minimum Degree of Dissimilarity). The methodology is implemented in a real socio-economic complex network. Insights from a first explorative analysis are provided.