what-when-how
In Depth Tutorials and Information
to determine the “distance” between perspectives: the intuitive approach and the
analysis approach. he intuitive approach solely relies on the subjective insights of
the stakeholder. he analysis approach uses mathematical algorithms to compare
two perspectives. Here, we will discuss the latter, which is to compare the perspec-
tives through “positional analysis,” based on a formal method used in social net-
work analysis [Wasserman and Faust 1994]. In this case, the perspective models of
a group of stakeholders toward a single concept are viewed as a network of opinions
associated with each other (an example is shown in Figure 8.7).
In this network, a stakeholder who possesses a perspective model has relation-
ships with other prospective models. We define the relations as their perceptional
attitudes toward each other. he rules are deined as:
If stakeholder
P
i
agrees to stakeholder
P
j
's perspective model of concept
C
f
(i.e.,
ρ
i
C
f
), the perception relation is
x
ij
=
1
.
If stakeholder
P
i
disagrees toρi
ρ
i
C
f
, the perception relation is
x
ij
= −
1
.
If stakeholder
P
i
has no comments to
ρ
i
C
f
, the relation is
x
ij
=
0
.
For a given objective, a group of perspective models are placed as a graph
(i.e., perspective model network). he solid line indicates an “agreement” and
the dotted line indicates a “disagreement.”
he way we compare the perspective models is based on analysis of the structure
of the perspective network. Two perspective models are compatible (or similar) if
they are in the same “position” in the network. In social network analysis, position
refers to a collection of individuals who are similarly embedded in networks of rela-
tions. To precisely determine how the perspectives are involved (i.e., the positional
analysis), we need a formal definition of equivalence and a measure of the degree to
which a subset of actors approach that definition in a given set of network data.
If two perspective models are structural equivalent (i.e., their relationships with
other perspective models are the same), we assume they are purely compatible,
and there are no detectable diferences. hat means they have the same perception
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2
6
4
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7
Figure8.7
Aperspectivemodelnetwork.
