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Naja
There are several ways to consider this question so what I write might
not be completely accurate.
You can specify in KPP the number of key players you want identified.
You can decide the number you think is appropriate. Generally, the
diffusion literature has recommended that opinion leaders be in the
10-15% range, so a network of 40 should have 4-6 leaders. In most of
the school-based work I've done, we generally try to create groups 5-8
people with a leader from each group, yielding a slighly higher rate.
If you start by assuming that a key player is required to be directly
connected then the analysis of key players will necessarily depend on
the network structure and the rate of key player identification will
vary with network structure, sparser networks requiring more leaders,
for example. I would not advocate following this logic, however, since
it creates challenges of implementation and replication. (For example,
having some networks in which leaders are assigned to 1 or 2 people.)
So, in short, I would answer the question by proposing to have key
players be 10-15% of the network.
-Tom

Naja McKenzie wrote:

>***** To join INSNA, visit http://www.insna.org *****
>
>I am completing a grant application in which I diffuse an intervention through key players in an adolescent friendship network. My external reviewer, who has some, but not a great deal, of SNA experience, asked if I could estimate the ratio of key players to the size of the network. I was not able to answer that, and my hunch is one can't, because it is so dependent on the network characteristics. However, I thought I would ask the members of SocNet for any input.
>
>Thanks in advance!
>
>
>Naja E. McKenzie PhD, RN
>
>Research Associate - Postdoctoral Fellow
>
>Cancer Prevention and Control
>
>Arizona Cancer Center
>
>(520) 626-5363
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--
Thomas W. Valente, PhD
Director, Master of Public Health Program
http://www.usc.edu/medicine/mph/
Department of Preventive Medicine
Keck School of Medicine
University of Southern California
1000 S. Fremont Ave., Unit #8
Building A Room 5110
Alhambra CA 91803
phone: (626) 457-4139
cell: (626) 429-4123
fax: (626) 457-6699
email: [log in to unmask]

My personal webpage:
http://www-hsc.usc.edu/~tvalente/

The Empirical Networks Project
http://ipr1.hsc.usc.edu/networks/

Evaluating Health Promotion Programs
(Oxford U. Press):
www.oup-usa.org/isbn/0195141768.html

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