How and Why to Collect CSS Data

Instructor: David Krackhardt

CSS (cognitive social structure) refers to data in which you ask each respondent to indicate who has ties with whom among all members of a group. For example, you might ask who seeks advice from whom? Included in this, of course, is who the respondent herself seeks advice from. The result is N matrices that represent each respondent's perception of who has ties with whom, in addition to what might be called the "true" matrix (what each respondent says about her own behavior). Research shows that people vary considerably in their knowledge of the social structure around them, and this has consequences for their ability to navigate the social worlds they live in.