IDENTIFYING OPINION LEADERS USING SOCIAL NETWORK ANALYSIS, A STUDY IN AN EGYPTIAN VILLAGE

Abstract

This research used four approaches to identify opinion leaders in two networks in an Egyptian Village. One approach was used for identifying single opinion leaders (network centrality measures), and three approaches were used to identify sets of key players (group centrality, network efficiency, and KPP-Pos & KPP-Neg). Social network analysis software (UCINET 6) was used for individual & group centrality measures. The study used the key player software to identify sets of key players under KPP-Pos & KPP-Neg. The study identified different opinion leaders using the four different techniques. This research gives an opportunity for further work on a comprehensive approach to identify key players in social networks to overcome the problem of identifying different leaders by different techniques without an absolute answer for the question concerning which technique will capture the best leaders.