2010-Narrative To Social Network Analysis

Field Methods OnlineFirst, published on February 13, 2009 as doi:10.
1177/1525822X08329697
From Interviews to Social Network

Analysis: An Approach for Revealing
Social Networks Embedded in
Narrative Data
WILLIE L. MCKETHER
University of Toledo
JULIA C. GLUESING
KENNETH RIOPELLE
Wayne State University
This article describes the process of discovery used to convert interview data into a for-
mat readable into MultiNet for social network analysis. Based on the 2005 doctoral dis-
sertation research of Willie McKether, the authors describe the steps used to collect and
store interview data in Microsoft Word, the preparation process for exporting the inter-
views to ATLAS.ti for coding, the coding process, and the conversion path that allowed
them to export the coded qualitative data from ATLAS.ti to SPSS and ultimately to
MultiNet for social network analysis. This study is significant because it describes a
replicable conversion technique that can be used by experienced scholars and those
unfamiliar with the range of network analysis programs and conversion possibilities.
Keywords: qualitative analysis; mixed methods; narrative data; conversion process
OVERVIEW
This article describes the five-step process we used to convert narrative

interview data into numerical data for social network analysis. In particular,
we show how individual and whole networks embedded in narrative data can
be drawn from interview data already collected or from planned interviews
where open-ended questions will be used. The article and process we
describe explain a process that allows quantitative and qualitative
researchers to have the best of both worlds: They can code for individual and
Field Methods, Vol. XX, No. X, Month XXXX xx–xx

DOI: 10.1177/1525822X08329697
© 2009 Sage Publications
Downloaded from fmx.sagepub.com at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 9, 2016

2 FIELD METHODS
whole networks and at the same time code for larger themes embedded in
their narrative data sets.
The various processes and network analysis programs that a population
of scholars uses to create network maps and generate network data can be
frustrating and daunting for social network newcomers. This is particularly
the case for qualitative researchers who use mostly ethnographic techniques
in their data collection strategies and want to examine networks embedded
in their narrative data, while at the same time, they want to retain and use
the narrative parts of their interviews, understanding that the various ways
of converting their data remain somewhat illusive. Although this duality in
data analysis is certainly not new, a structured approach to data analysis has
caught the attention of a growing number of researchers who use social net-
work analysis to examine qualitative data. This population of scholars
wants to pierce the veil of social structures and look inside the worlds of
their subjects to understand relationships; they not only want to examine
the valued relationships in their data, they also want to retain and examine
the context in which those relationships occurred.
Explicit and clear-cut descriptions of how researchers across disciplines
convert narrative interview data into a format readable into network analysis
programs are rarely found in methodological, focused scholarly literature.
There are some exceptions, including Schweizer’s (1991) study of political
reform in southern China in which he describes the processes used to examine
sixteen narrative interviews using UNICNET, SONIS, STRUCTURE, and
NETPAC; Bearman, Faris, and Moody’s (1999) study in which they describe
how they used PAJEK to examine fourteen life stories of Chinese villagers to
construct historical events related to agrarian revolts in a northern China; and
Mercer’s (2007) doctoral dissertation in which she describes the processes she
used to convert narrative data into a format readable into NETMINOR. But
few other studies explicitly describe the processes used to convert narrative
text into a format readable into social network programs.
These studies show that researchers have options when it comes to social
network programs and that there are many ways to reveal network data embed-
ded in narrative texts. These two important factors may account for the dearth
of articles that make conversion methods and techniques the primary topic of
discussion. Unlike the examples cited above, however, when specific conver-
sion processes are used for specific research questions and data sets and when
the processes are not explained so as to make them easily replicable for other
researchers, particularly for social network newcomers, the literature misses a
population that wants and needs to see the process as well as the end result.

McKether et al. / REVEALING SOCIAL NETWORKS 3
This article presents the methodological approach used in a previous

study of African American migration from various southern regions of the
United States to Saginaw, Michigan. The study described the cultural
adjustment that migrants and their families made as they arrived in the
Northern city in search of employment. The study population included indi-
viduals who migrated to Saginaw as children with their parents before 1960
and came of age there and individuals who migrated to the city as adults
before 1960 for employment and better social, economic, and political con-
ditions than their Southern, mostly rural home communities. The primary
objective of the study was to examine and interpret the migration experi-
ence from the perspectives of migrants themselves. This article focuses
specifically on the processes used to convert oral history (life) interviews or
qualitative data into numerical data for social network analysis.
We begin with a brief description of the oral history interview process.
Then, we give a step-by-step presentation of the data conversion and pro-
cessing procedures from data cleaning and preparation, to coding in the
qualitative analysis package, ATLAS.ti, to exporting coded data into SPSS,
and then to MultiNet for social network analysis. Although the software we
used works, readers can adapt the method for other packages of their choice.
To demonstrate how the process works, we conclude the article by generat-
ing network maps based on a sample set drawn from the original migration
interviews.
DATA COLLECTION: ORAL HISTORY INTERVIEWS
Oral history programs are undertaken for various reasons, but typical rea-
sons are to fill the gap in a historical record or to document and preserve the
history of an individual, company, event, or time period (Sommer and Quinlan
2002:3). Ninety-six people were interviewed for the migration study. Each one
was asked the same set of open-ended questions in interviews that lasted not
more than 2 hours. Interviewees were also asked to provide specific names of
people, businesses, and organizations they had past relationships with and to
describe the nature of those relationships. Each person, for example, was
asked to provide the address (or cross streets) of where he or she lived either
growing up in Saginaw or on his or her arrival; who he or she lived with; the
names of his or her closest personal friends; the schools he or she attended;
the names of businesses he or she patronized; the names of people he or she
associated with in their fights for social, economic, and political justice; the

4 FIELD METHODS
church(es) he or she attended; and other organizations to which he or she

belonged in Saginaw during the study’s time period.
DATA CONVERSION AND PROCESSING
To convert the interviews into social network data using the process
described here, we used the following five software programs: Microsoft
Office Word, Excel 2003, ATLAS.ti 5.0; SPSS version 13, and MultiNet
version 4.44.1 The data conversion and processing involved five major
steps: (1) transcribing and storing interviews, (2) cleaning and preparing
data for importing into ATLAS.ti, (3) importing and coding the interview-
rich text files in ATLAS.ti, (4) creating the ATLAS.ti SPSS data extract,
and (5) creating an Excel MultiNet link file. Each of these steps is pre-
sented here in detail so that others can replicate the process in their own
studies.
The software programs—particularly ATLAS.ti., SPSS, and MultiNet—
were used because of their complementary functional features and because
of the authors’ years of experience with these programs. However, other
computer-assisted qualitative data analysis programs such as Ethnograph,
NVivo, and NUD*IST; statistical programs such as SAS; and network
analysis programs such as Pajek and UCINET can also be used.
Step 1: Transcribing and Storing Interviews2

Interviews were transcribed and stored in separate Microsoft Word files.
Each interview was approximately forty double-spaced typed pages. Each
interviewee was assigned a three-digit identification (ID) number of
001–096. These ID numbers and names were stored in an Excel Interview
name file. This file was then used as the node file for MultiNet.
The most complex part of the data conversion was developing a process
for coding the interviews and creating the link file, which would indicate
how the nodes were related to one another. MultiNet requires two comma
separated variable files for social network analysis. The first is a NODE
file, which is a three-column file that contains the list of all the nodes with
a unique ID number and a text label or name. The node file needs the ID
numbers and can also contain names/labels and any node attribute variables
desired in analysis. The second required comma separated variable file is a
LINK file, which has at least three columns, including an ID1, ID2, and an
attribute value. See sample node and link files in Figure 1.

FIGURE 1
Sample Microsoft Excel Comma Separated Node and Link Files
Figure 1 shows that ID1 and ID2 are the node IDs, indicating that ID1
has a relationship with ID2 in the format FROM ID1 TO ID2, with some
attribute, such as family member, friend, coworker, and so forth, repre-
sented by K33, K34 in the figure. The process for creating these files is
described later in the article.
Step 2: Data Cleaning and Preparation for Importing to ATLAS.ti

Before the transcribed interviews were exported to ATLAS.ti for coding,
they were edited to remove false starts, utterances such as “um, um,” and
repeated words such as “yes, yes,” in a way that did not alter the meaning
and intent of interview conversations.
Following the content editing, as shown in the Microsoft Interview
folder below (Figure 2), each of the interviews was saved as a rich text file
in Microsoft Word. The Word files were single-spaced, with paragraph
breaks between utterances.

6 FIELD METHODS
FIGURE 2
Sample Microsoft Word Interview Folder
Previous versions of ATLAS.ti (prior to 5.0) required the documents to

be prepared as single-spaced plain text files, with line breaks at the end of
each line and extra spaces between paragraphs and all special characters
removed. However, the current version of ATLAS.ti, which uses rich text
files, makes the preparation of text files for importing easier because it pre-
serves the paragraphs and formatting of basic Word files. ATLAS.ti 5.0
allows text wrapping of paragraphs, which the previous version did not.
Developing relation codes. Overall, it was important to develop an

appropriate numbering and labeling scheme that would allow the node and
link data to be generated and used as input files for the network analysis
program MultiNet. As previously mentioned, the numbering scheme began
by assigning each of the interviewees a number from 001 through 096.
Each of the interviewees served as a node and was stored in an Excel file,
as shown in Figure 1, called the comma separated variable MultiNet node
file. To define the kinds of relations interviewees had both with one another
and others in the community or to people not interviewed, a separate
relations code file was created to record and capture the various types of
relations mentioned in the interviews, such as wife, brother, friend, and so
forth. Figure 3 is a sample of the relations code file.
The relation code file was maintained in a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet
and updated to capture the wide range of relationships mentioned in the inter-
views. Each relation was assigned a three-digit number beginning with 001.

FIGURE 3
Relations Code File
Later in the process, these relations will be entered into ATLAS.ti as link
codes. This relation’s code file should not be confused with the linked data
file, which contains the FROM-TO ID numbers and a designated relation, as
depicted in Figure 1, called the comma separated variable MultiNet link file.
Developing node categories. The node categories associated with the

numbering scheme emerged from the data during the editing and prepara-
tion process described earlier. The numbering scheme is shown in Table 1.
To capture all the nodes embedded in the interview data, each time an
interviewee mentioned a person, church, organization, and so forth, that
named person or organization was assigned a three-digit node number
based on the numbering system in Table 1. Each named person, place, or
organization was assigned a single number, even though it may have been
mentioned several times throughout the interviews. The named person,
place, or organization was assigned a number only when mentioned the first
time by one of the ninety-six people interviewed. Thereafter, the three-digit
ID numbers were unique identifiers for the nodes.
The NODE categories and the relation code file were maintained and
constantly updated in a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. Microsoft Excel
allowed the lists to be sorted by last name and number to ensure names and
numbers were not duplicated. Thus, we created three files: (1) a node file,
with each node assigned a unique three-digit number that served as one of

8 FIELD METHODS
TABLE 1
Node File Numbering Scheme
Node Category Node Numbering
Interviewees 001–096
Names of people mentioned in interviews 100–299; 700–1100
Names of churches 300–350
Church denominations 351–370
Names of organizations 400–450
Names of businesses 501–599; 670–699
Names of schools 601–659
two required MultiNet input files, as depicted in Figure 1, labeled as comma

separated variable MultiNet Node file; (2) a relations code file that defines
the different types of relationships found in the data, as depicted in Figure 3;
and (3) a node categories file that was used to keep track of what Node ID
number ranges correspond with unique groups, as depicted in Table 1.
Step 3: Importing and Coding the Interview Text Files in ATLAS.ti

A key problem for creating social network data from qualitative inter-
views was how to code the interviews in ATLAS.ti and generate a LINK
file for social network analysis in MultiNet. We knew of no network analy-
sis software on the market that could be used in its original design to cap-
ture relationship data embedded in interviews. Consequently, the
dissertation interview data were used as “test data” to discover how to doc-
ument and analyze network relationships embedded in interview data. This
required that a path be created between ATLAS.ti, SPSS, and MultiNet to
export data across each of the programs.3
Exporting data to ATLAS.ti. After all interviews were edited, cleaned, and pre-
pared in the first pass of reading and after node and relation codes were recorded
in Excel files in the second pass, the cleaned interview text documents were
imported into ATLAS.ti for coding and analysis. In ATLAS.ti terms, each of the
interviews became a primary document (PD) in a single ATLAS.ti hermeneutic
unit. Next, an ATLAS.ti code was created for every node and relation type with the
ATLAS.ti’s code manager, using the command “Create Free Code.”
ATLAS.ti code node format. The format used to create and enter nodes
is indicated below.

FIGURE 4
ATLAS.ti Node Codes
Nodes format: N_LastName_First Name_ID Number

Example: N_McKether_Willie_101
The “N_” at the beginning of the code name enabled nodes in ATLAS.ti to
be alphabetized in the code list and for them to be grouped together. As names
were added to the code list as nodes in ATLAS.ti, they were automatically
sorted in alphabetical order for easy reference. The “Lastname_Firstname”
format helped keep a clear distinction between the Lastname and Firstname.
See Sample ATLAS.ti Node Codes in Figure 4.
The “Lastname_Firstname” designations were nineteen characters or
less to meet MultiNet labeling limit requirements. The “_ID number” tag at
the end of the person’s name was the unique ID number assigned to a
person, place, or organization and allowed the list of nodes to be prepared
by ascending ID number in Excel. The “_” underscore formatting allowed
text columns to be easily parsed into text to columns and for sorting nodes
alphabetically by name and by ID number.
ATLAS.ti code relation format. The format for establishing relation

links in ATLAS.ti is shown in the example below and followed by an
ATLAS.ti sample in Figure 5.

10 FIELD METHODS
FIGURE 5
ATLAS.ti Link Codes
L_Link Relation_ID Number

Example: L_Brother_001
Similar to the node format, the “L_” at the beginning of the code name
enabled an alphabetical listing of Link relations in ATLAS.ti and kept them
grouped together. Additionally, as link relations were added to the link list
in ATLAS.ti, they were automatically sorted in alphabetical order for easy
reference. The “_ID number” tag at the end of the Link relation allowed the
list of all links to be prepared in ascending ID numbers in Excel. The “_”
underscore formatting allowed text to columns to be easily parsed in Excel
for sorting links alphabetically by name and ID number.
Coding the interview data for migration themes. In addition to the coding
for nodes and relations, the data were coded for the major themes in the oral
histories that described the migration experiences of the interviewees. A thor-
ough reading of the interviews produced the initial migration theme code list
in ATLAS.ti. To help with the coding process, a high-level word crunch fre-
quency was calculated in ATLAS.ti. The word crunch feature in ATLAS.ti

FIGURE 6
ATLAS.ti Code Family
provided a word count of all words used in the hermeneutic unit (all words
across all interview texts). Such an analysis allowed the initial code list to be
compared against the most frequently used words in all interviews as a check
to ensure the initial code list was representative at a high level of analysis with
major themes embodied in the interviews. Based on the word crunch analy-
sis, the initial code was revised to include minor themes not observed during
the first and second passes of reading the interviews.
The coding process was iterative and required several passes. To sim-
plify the coding process, the interviews were coded first using the interview
theme codes and then were coded using the node and link codes. Although
this process was slow and tedious, it helped ensure that both the qualitative
and quantitative objectives of the process received equal attention.
To facilitate the first pass of coding using the interview codes based on
major themes reflected in the eighty-eight interview codes, nine code
families were created in the ATLAS.ti program. See sample ATLAS.ti
code families in Figure 6 below. A code family is a feature in ATLAS.ti
that allows groups of codes to be classified under a single code or family
name.
The code families made the coding process much easier because the
codes in each of the families were generally based on the interview

12 FIELD METHODS
questions, which were asked in a fairly similar sequence. The code families
therefore displayed the list of codes that roughly corresponded with por-
tions of the interviews that reflected those codes.
Coding nodes with relations. After the interviews were coded with the
interview theme code list, the interviews were coded using the node and
link relation codes. During this round of coding, as each interview was
read, every name, place, and organization was identified (hence, nodes),
and then the nature of the relationship determined and assigned an appro-
priate link relation. To assign a code or codes, a person’s name was high-
lighted and they were assigned the corresponding node code for that person
and then assigned one or more appropriate links to that node. The exact text
or quotation must be selected for both the node and the link because this
defines how ATLAS.ti will create its SPSS export data file. The text below,
for example, shows the friend relation (Link #052) interviewee HB (PD
002) has with William P. Wilson (Node 734).
When a PD (the HB interviewee) has the node (William P. Wilson)

assigned two codes—the relation “L_Friend_052” and the node
“N_Wilson_William_P_734”—it will generate an SPSS data file like
Figure 7.
Every quotation becomes an SPSS data line with the following variable
information: a case number, the PD number, a quotation index number, the
start line number, the start column number, the end line number, the end
column number, the codes’ creation date, and a unique number assigned to
every code beginning with the letter “K” from K1 to Kn. If code families
have been created, ATLAS.ti generates a compute statement to add those
codes together for a code family variable in the format KFvariable#. In
addition, a K# will be assigned for each node and link code, and a KF# will
be assigned for each code family.
There is a direct correspondence of ATLAS.ti coding that puts a “1” in
a node variable and a “1” in a link variable that enables the SPSS data file to
be used to create the MultiNet Link file. Figure 8 represents the relation-
ships among ATLAS.ti PD node codes and link codes, the SPSS variables
and labels, and a MultiNet link file.
For example, John Doe was assigned ID #1, and when his interview was
imported into ATLAS.ti, it was assigned a new PD number. When ATLAS.ti

FIGURE 7
SPSS Data File
FIGURE 8
MultiNet Link File
Interview John Doe William Wilson Link

ID# Assigned 1 734
ATLAS.ti Uses
PD#, Codes Assigned N_Wilson_WilliamP_734 L_Friend_052
PD#
SPSS
Variable: PD K415 K67
Label: Primary Doc N_Wilson_734 L_Friend_052
<SPSS and Excel data manipulation steps here >

MultiNet From To Link
Link File Node Node Relation
Format
MultiNet
Link File 1D1 ID2 K67
Variable:
MultiNet
Link File Data 1 734 1
values:

14 FIELD METHODS
creates an SPSS extract, it creates a variable called “PD,” which is the pri-
mary document number. In step 5, we will illustrate how to create a series of
SPSS statements to recode the ATLAS.ti PD numbers back to match the
original node numbers and thus establish MultiNet’s From or ID1 variable.
Likewise, all the ATLAS.ti node codes that are then created as SPSS
“K”_variables will be recoded to their originally assigned ID numbers to
become MultiNet’s TO or ID2 node variable.
Step 4: Creating the ATLAS.ti SPSS Data Extract

After coding each interview and assigning the appropriate node and link
relation codes to a text segment, the next step requires creating an SPSS file.
ATLAS.ti has a built-in functional feature that will create the needed SPSS
data file. To create the file, go to the ATLAS.ti menu, choose the menu item
“extras,” then “export to,” then “SPSS,” and select the desired options.
Below is a sample ATLAS.ti SPSS export syntax file:
TITLE 'ATLAS.ti HE: INTERVIEWS FOR DISSERTATION 0804'
* SPSS Syntax file generated by ATLAS.ti (WIN 5.0 (Build 60))

* SPSS Generator Version 3.0
* Date: 2004-10-23T09:01:35
DATA LIST RECORDS=13

/1 CASENO (F5.0) PD (F4.0) QU (F4.0) SL (F4.0) SC (F8.0)
EL (F4.0) EC (F8.0) TI (F10.0)
/2 K1 to K77 1-77
/3 K78 to K154 1-77
VARIABLE LABELS PD 'Primary Doc'

/QU 'Q-Index'
/SL 'Start Line'
/SC 'Start Column'
/EL 'End Line'
/EC 'End Column'
/TI 'Creation Date'
/K1 'ARRIVALliveconditions'
/K33 'L_Aunt_011'
/K34 'L_Babysat_057'
/K35 'L_Barber_001'
/K36 'L_Beautician_002'
/K37 'L_Brother_007'
/K38 'L_BrotherinLaw_068'
/K39 'L_ChildhoodFriend_003'

/K110 'N_AFLCIO_Org_413'
/K111 'N_Aldridge_Katherine_029'
/K112 'N_Aldridge_William_050'
/K113 'N_Alinski_Sol_279'
/K114 'N_Allen_Bill_174'
COMPUTE KF1 = K5 + K6 + K13 . . . etc.
BEGIN DATA.
0000100020001005700000026005700000031327097572300000000000000000 . . .
Note all the link relation codes will be grouped together as well as the
node codes.
Step 5: Creating an Excel MultiNet Link File

When interviews are entered into ATLAS.ti, they are each assigned PD
numbers. However, because the PD number assigned to each interview may
not match the ID number assigned to each interview, after the SPSS data
file has been created, an SPSS syntax file has to be created that includes a
series of “If statements” to recode the ATLAS.ti PD document numbers to
match the interview node ID numbers, for example,
COMPUTE ID1 =0.
IF PD = 2 ID1 = 1.
IF PD = 3 ID1 = 2.
IF PD = 4 ID1 = 3.
IF PD = 11 ID1 = 4.
This process, in effect, creates the MultiNet ID1 or FROM Node in the
Link File.
For example, if the ATLAS.ti PD represented by the SPSS variable PD
is equal to 2, then set the SPSS variable ID1 to be equal to 1. Thus, the
ATLAS.ti PD numbers are recoded to match the originally assigned Node
ID numbers.
Next create a series of SPSS IF statements to create the MultiNet ID2 or
TO node in the link file.
COMPUTE ID2 =0.
IF K109 = 1 ID2 = 870.

IF K110 = 1 ID2 = 413.
IF K111 = 1 ID2 = 29.
IF K112 = 1 ID2 = 50.

16 FIELD METHODS
For example, K110, which is the ATLAS.ti created SPSS variable for the
node AFLCIO, will be recoded to match its originally assigned Node ID of
413. Thus, the ATLAS.ti/SPSS node variable numbers are recoded to match
the originally assigned node ID numbers.
Next, add a select statement to select just the records with ID2 greater
than 0. The purpose of this is to select only nodes that do have a link rela-
tion with another node.
USE ALL.
COMPUTE filter_$=(id2 > 0).
VARIABLE LABEL filter_$ 'id2 > 0 (FILTER)'.
VALUE LABELS filter_$ 0 'Not Selected' 1 'Selected'.
FORMAT filter_$ (f1.0).
FILTER BY filter_$.
Finally, issue the SPSS “Translate” command to create the finished

Excel MultiNet Link file as follows:
SAVE TRANSLATE/Outfile = 'c:\lin01.xls' / Type = XLS /Fieldnames/ / Keep =

ID1 ID2 K33 to K103.
EXECUTE.
This “Translate” command creates an Excel file with the FROM or ID1
variable and the ID2 or TO variable along with all relations or “K” variables
that are defined. There are now the two MultiNet network files necessary
for social network analysis: the NODE file with the IDs and names of the
nodes and the link file with the FROM TO IDs and the corresponding rela-
tions. See sample MultiNet files in Figure 9. In the link file variable ID1
(from node) values are the PD numbers matched to the assigned ID
numbers. The variable ID2 (to node) values are the node code numbers. The
link relation variables K33 (e.g., Friend) and so forth are 0 = No, 1 = Yes.
Because MultiNet will not read in labels that exceed nineteen characters,
each node label must contain less than that. Finally, the Excel files must be
edited to add the appropriate MultiNet header information, such as “begin
data” commands. After these edits are made to the Excel files, they can be
imported into MultiNet social network analysis.
Sample data analysis. To show how the conversion process works, we use
five sample interviews from the original data set to show how ego network
maps can be used individually as well as part of a whole network map.
Informants in the sample subset were part of the Saginaw cohort in that they
were either born in Saginaw or moved there with their parents between 1921

FIGURE 9
Sample MultiNet Node and Link Files
TABLE 2
Sample Demographics
Name Interview No. Year to Saginaw Parents
Karen Betts 36 Born—1956 Harry and Minrose Browne

Mary Hall 21 Parents in 1928 McKinley and Irma Sanders
Richard Porterfield 77 Born—1934 William and Gale Porterfield
Gayle Browne-Terry 82 Born—1943 Howard and Stella Browne
Cleo Bowman 76 Parents in 1920 Westin and Carrie Nash
and 1940. Each interview was conducted separately and at different times
throughout the study. See sample set demographics in Table 2.4
We selected this subset for two reasons: (1) The individuals had family
and friend relationships that spanned across several generations; and (2)
their network maps show how particular people or institutions were essen-
tial in bridging the social gap between African Americans in the racially
and geographically segregated community. All but one of the informants
grew up on the west side of the racially segregated city.

18 FIELD METHODS
FIGURE 10
Ward Map of City
A DIVIDED CITY
Census and interview data revealed that Saginaw was a racially divided
city. Figure 10 is a ward map of the city and reflects how space was used to
keep the African American population segregated from other residents.
The Saginaw River runs through the heart of the city and separates it
both geographically and racially. With few exceptions, African Americans
lived in wards (indicated by the numbered boxes) on the east side of the
river, whereas whites lived almost exclusively in wards on the west side of
the river.
Census data in Table 3 illustrate that race-based residential segregation
increased as the African American population increased in Saginaw.
The data show, for example, that in 1920, 16% (fifty-four) of the 328
African Americans in Saginaw lived in wards on the west side of the city.
However, by 1940, only 2% (seventy-eight) of the city’s 3,315 African
Americans lived on the west side of Saginaw. African Americans in Saginaw
did not choose to segregate themselves; rather, as the African American pop-
ulation increased over time, so did efforts by white resistance groups, realtors,
and lending institutions to keep the growing African American population
confined to particular areas and wards of the city (McKether 2005).

TABLE 3
East–West-side Populations for Selected Years
Years
1910 1920 1930 1940
African American population 313 328 2,853 3,315

% in east Saginaw .85 .84 .98 .98
% in west Saginaw .15 .16 .02 .02
SOURCES: Thirteenth Census, 1910, vol. II, pp. 954–955; Fourteenth Census, 1920, vol. II,
p. 500; Fifteenth Census, 1930, vol. III, part 1, p. 1179; Sixteenth Census, 1940, vol. II, part
3, p. 859; Seventeenth Census, 1950, vol. II, part 22, pp. 22–81; Eighteen Census, 1960, vol.
1, part 24, pp. 24–82.
Emergence of Family and Friend Networks

Beginning with the arrival of African American families in 1896, a net-
work of family and friends formed that spanned multiple families and three
generations. As new families arrived in Saginaw between 1896 and 1960,
the network helped them establish friendships with earlier arrivals and, in
turn, their children became friends, and again in turn, their children became
friends. Figure 11 is a whole generational network map generated from
individual interviews with several generations of migrants.
The generational network map shows interrelated and overlapping ties
among several families that migrated to Saginaw between 1896 and 1960.
Although many such networks were formed as new families arrived in
Saginaw between 1920 and 1960, one such family and friend network
emerged among the Porterfield, Browne, Hall, and Bowman families (also
members of the sample data set), who lived mostly on Saginaw’s west side.
Critical Linkages among West–East Side African American Families

The majority of African Americans who migrated to Saginaw between
1920 and 1960 worked for General Motors and were confined to east-side
Saginaw wards; however, a small population of African American families
lived on the west side of Saginaw among white residents in all-white neigh-
borhoods and wards. African Americans who lived on the west side of Saginaw
had opportunities that African Americans who lived on the east side of
Saginaw did not, including increased opportunities for home ownership and
the opportunity to attend predominately white schools. Such schools, accord-
ing to some interviewees, had better supplies and equipment and more qual-
ified teachers.

20 FIELD METHODS
FIGURE 11
Generational Network Map
Figure 12 is a school network map that illustrates which sample children

and families attended the west side and predominantly white Arthur Hill
High School. The longer dashed lines represent claims of link relations
made by respondents and indicate that these links are from the respondent
to another individual. The five interviews represent only a partial network
of the relations that were revealed in the oral history interviews.
The school network map indicates that in separate interviews, Mary
Hall, Richard Porterfield, and Cleo Bowman all said they attended Arthur
Hill High School on the city’s west side. Cleo Bowman recalled in her
interview, as reflected by the dashed lines, that Melanie Sanders (not inter-
viewed for study) also attended Arthur Hill High School.
Similarly, in a separate interview, Mary Hall said that other west-side
families, such as the Goines, Nash, and Haithco families, attended the west-
side school. In other interviews (not included in the sample), Margaret
Haithco and James Goines each confirmed they attended the west-side high
school. Although the school network map provides an interesting visual pic-
ture of African Americans who attended the west-side school, when com-
bined with other network maps depicting other kinds of relationships and
narrative text, we gained a greater understanding of the collective social rela-
tionships among the small population of families. The African American

FIGURE 12
School Network Map
families on the west side of the city all had light skin. Understanding these
nested social relations clarified how the network allowed them to survive liv-
ing on the predominately white west side of the Saginaw River.
Social Ties among Migrants: The Role of Social Clubs and Church
Network maps based on the interviews also showed that parents of the sam-
ple Saginaw cohort established friendship bonds through social activities and
that some parents played a central role in linking families across the divided
community. For example, in response to the open-ended interview question,
“What did families do socially?” several members of the sample Saginaw
cohort indicated that families, mothers in particular, socialized and established
close friendship bonds through church affiliation and a local group known as
the Baker’s Dozen. The latter was a group of women who sponsored social
events in Saginaw and congregated to socialize and play bridge.
Figure 13 depicts a network map of the Baker’s Dozen and shows that
both Cleo Bowman and Gayle Browne-Terry said their mothers belonged
to the Baker’s Dozen social group. In their individual interviews, each pro-
vided the names of other mothers who belonged to the social group that
Gayle Browne-Terry characterized as “like extended family.”5 In addition,
this network map shows that the Baker’s Dozen group was composed of

22 FIELD METHODS
FIGURE 13
Baker’s Dozen Network Map
African American women from both sides of the Saginaw River. For
example, Gayle Browne-Terry said that her mother, Stella Mumford, her
aunt, Minrose Browne, and Marie Claytor, all of whom lived on the city’s
east side, belonged to the Baker’s Dozen. In a separate interview, Cleo
Bowman indicated that her mother, Carrie Nash, as well as Gale Porterfield
(mother of Richard Porterfield and close friend of Stella Mumford) also
belonged to the social club.
The Baker’s Dozen network map is significant because it shows that
although African Americans were geographically segregated from one
another, parents fostered and maintained friendship relationships through
social organizations. The oral history interviews elaborated the context of
the network and provided the insight about how social conditions led to
friendships among the migrants’ children.
Second Generation of Migrants: Friendship Bonds Continue

Members of the Saginaw cohort comprised the second generation of
migrants to Saginaw. Although members of this generation lived on differ-
ent sides of the Saginaw River, some formed close friendship bonds that
likely emanated from their parents’ close friendships.

FIGURE 14
Childhood Friend Network Map
Based on responses to the interview question, “Who was your best child-
hood friend?” Figure 14 represents a childhood friendship network map. It
reveals that children of migrants, several of whose parents belonged to the
Baker’s Dozen, also became friends as children. The childhood friendship net-
work map, in particular, shows that Gayle Browne-Terry was a central node
(person) in the childhood network that spanned both sides of the Saginaw
River. In her interview, Gayle Browne-Terry, herself an east-sider, said that her
best childhood friends were east-siders Elinor and Carol Claytor (daughters of
Baker’s Dozen Marie Claytor) and west-siders Beverly and Barbara Bowman
(granddaughters of Baker’s Dozen Carrie Nash and daughters of Cleo
Bowman). Browne-Terry also said that cohort member Richard Porterfield
was one of her best childhood friends. In turn, Richard Porterfield said that
Cleo (Nash) Bowman and Charles Bowman were his best childhood friends.
This sample data set and analysis show that the process we used to
generate individual and whole network maps can increase the analytic
depth of interview data. Significantly, because the process allowed us to
code each interview for relationship as well as major themes embedded in
each of the interviews, we were able to capture data that could be read into
social network programs. Importantly, the process also allowed us to use
narrative portions of the same interview to provide context for the relation-
ships embedded in the data.

24 FIELD METHODS
CONCLUSION, STRENGTHS, AND LIMITATIONS
In this article, we have described the process of discovery used to con-

vert interview data into social network data. In the conversion process, we
used various functional features of several qualitative and quantitative soft-
ware programs to convert each of the ninety-six single personal oral history
interviews into quantitative data that enabled network analysis and mapping
across all of the interviews.
The conversion process required the discovery and use of functional fea-
tures of the multiple software programs described in this article. For
example, the functionality of Microsoft Word helped with storing and edit-
ing each of the interviews and then saving them as text documents. We used
Excel to create a simple node file with a name and assigned ID. We used
ATLAS.ti coding to create relationship links and export the data as an SPSS
data file, which we then read into SPSS and exported to an Excel link file.
Finally, we imported the Excel node file and the link file into MultiNet for
social network analysis. Although the data tables created in SPSS could
have been exported to various network analysis software programs, we used
MultiNet. Again, the set of software (Word, ATLAS.ti, SPSS, Excel, and
MultiNet) that we used in this article works, but readers can adapt the
method for other packages of their choice.
The interview method of data collection allowed data to be collected
from an insider’s perspective and provided firsthand accounts about the
migration and settlement experiences from the people who had these expe-
riences. The single-person interviews were designed to create a collective
story of the process and outcome of a twentieth-century African American
migration. Although the interviews were key sources of data for the migration
study from the outset, the desire and ultimately the decision to examine the
social networks embedded in the interview data emerged as an outcome of
preliminary interview and secondary data analysis.
As we began to review the interviews and saw the overlapping and inter-
related stories, people, and events, which required a way to capture such
relationships across all of the interviews, we started to closely examine the
functional features of various software programs that would allow data
exchange to enable network analysis. Through that iterative process, we
began to demystify the qualitative to quantitative software linkages and, more
importantly, to piece together individual nodes and links embedded in inter-
view data that allowed us to uncover relationships unattainable through any
other process or software programs on the market at the time of the study.
The social network analysis, through the creation of node and link files,
allowed for the people, organizations, and places mentioned in the interviews

to be examined across each of the interviews. This discovery process enabled

us to investigate both ego-centered as well as whole social networks embed-
ded in and throughout the interviews, thereby combining the functional fea-
tures of ego- and whole network-centered software programs. This
multifaceted approach was particularly useful because we were able to look
at the specific links individuals had with one another, places, and organiza-
tions, and to see, through network visualization, the links and relationships
across all of the interviews. Through such an analysis, we were able to
uncover the effect of specific individuals on the migration population as well
as on the interactions within the group. In short, the functionality of social
network analysis reduced the nearly 4,000 pages of interview data to short,
easy-to-read, and examinable network maps.
This ability to extract and examine ego- and whole social networks embed-
ded in interview data can be used by researchers across a wide range of disci-
plines and with a variety of purposes to supplement existing strategies and
research methods. These techniques are particularly useful for scholars who
want to explore specific kinds of links in and across interview data sets, no
matter how the data are collected. This process played a key role in an anthro-
pological study of migration, but processes described in this article can be repli-
cated and used in both qualitative- and quantitative-based studies and disciplines.
This study embodies software selection biases of the authors and several
technical limitations related to data analysis. To make the described process
work, we selected software programs that were most familiar to us. This
familiarity, however, allowed us to use the functional features of the vari-
ous software programs to discover the integrative paths needed to make
them work together. We fully acknowledge that (1) the process we describe
in this study is not the only way to reveal relationships embedded in inter-
view data and (2) a number of software programs could be used individu-
ally or collectively to get the same or nearly the same outcomes as our
five-step process. We used the combination of software programs that made
this replicable process work.
The technical limitation of the process is related to the time required to
prepare the narrative data for social network analysis, which can be slow
and tedious. To make the process work, users must code their data both for
major themes and links and nodes embedded in the narrative data, an itera-
tive process that requires several passes of data coding. The amount of time
required for this process, however, is largely contingent on the number of
interviews, narrative-based codes, and specificity of relational data the user
seeks. Nevertheless, the strength of this double coding process is that it cre-
ates a single file (hermeneutic unit) with data coded for thematic as well as
network relations in one location.

26 FIELD METHODS
A second limitation of the processes described in this article is that it is

limited to single-person interviews. As mentioned earlier, we did not plan
to examine the interviews through social networks when we started the
interview process. Only after we started the process of discovery did we
recognize the difficulty in coding a single interview (an ATLAS.ti PD) that
originated from more than one interviewee or node. To address this current
limitation, we recommend that until a conversion process and coding
scheme is developed for group interviews, researchers conduct single-
person interviews to use the methodological process described here.
The limitations of this study reflect the need for an ongoing agenda in
qualitative research methodology that focuses on a way to bridge qualita-
tive and quantitative methods and use a variety of software programs. In
particular, recognizing the limitations of the present study, the authors of
qualitative and quantitative software programs would serve qualitative
researchers well by continuing their efforts of discovering and codifying
paths in their programs that make it easier and more practical for users to
integrate the functional features of individual programs across various soft-
ware programs. Such an agenda will not only enable researchers to exam-
ine their data through multiple lenses and perspectives but also, as the
present study has attempted to do, will add much to the process of discov-
ery for qualitative and quantitative researchers.
NOTES
1. Network maps for this article were generated with an older version (4.44) of MultiNet,
which was the most recent version available when we wrote the article. Since then, several
important updates have been made to MultiNet (now version 5.4), including the following: (1)
The nineteen-character limitation has been eliminated, allowing for node and link names to be
more descriptive; (2) a single Excel file containing both node and link data can be used to
import node and link data instead of two files; and (3) MultiNet version 5.4 now has an export
utility to convert files into the Negopy format that can be read by UCINET, thus making it eas-
ier to move data from one network analysis program to another.
2. Sample data files showing how the process works can be downloaded at Willie
McKether’s Web site at http://homepages.utoledo.edu/wmcketh/social.network.analysis.htm.
3. Kenneth Riopelle and Julia Gluesing at Wayne State University discovered and wrote the path.
4. All the interviewees signed a public disclosure form allowing their names and interview
transcripts to be held in the public domain. All interviews are part of a public library collec-
tion in Saginaw, Michigan.
5. G. Browne-Terry, personal communication, July 24, 2003.

REFERENCES
Bearman, P., R. Faris, and J. Moody. 1999. Blocking the future: New solutions for old prob-
lems in historical social science. Social Science History 23 (4): 501–33.
McKether, W. L. 2005. Voices in transition: African-American migration to Saginaw,
Michigan: 1920 to 1960. PhD diss., Department of Anthropology, Wayne State University,
Detroit.
Mercer, D. 2007. The informal transfer of tacit knowledge among municipal managers in
coordination situations. Ph.D. dissertation. University of Montreal.
Schweizer, T. 1991. The power struggle in a Chinese community, 1950–1980: A social net-
work analysis of the duality of actors and events. Journal of Quantitative Anthropology
3 (1): 19–44.
Sommer, B., and M. Quinlan. 2002. The oral history manual. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira.
WILLIE L. MCKETHER is an assistant professor of anthropology in the Department

of Sociology and Anthropology at the University of Toledo. His research interests
include African American migration and culture, global virtual teams, and labor–
management relations. McKether earned his doctoral degree in December 2005 from
Wayne State University, Detroit. He currently serves as secretary/treasurer for the
Association of Black Anthropologists. His most recent publications include “Revealing
Social Networks in Your Qualitative Data: An Approach for Increasing Analytic
Firepower in Qualitative Data Analysis” (Journal of Ethnographic and Qualitative
Research, 2007), and he is a contributing author in Virtual Teams that Work: Creating
Conditions for Virtual Team Effectiveness (Jossey-Bass, 2003).
JULIA C. GLUESING is a business and organizational anthropologist and research

professor in industrial and manufacturing engineering at Wayne State University,
Detroit. Her research interests are mobile work and identity, global virtual teams,
global collaboration, collective action and social networks, and diffusion of innova-
tion. Julia is an editor of Mobile Work, Mobile Lives—Cultural Accounts of Lived
Experiences (Wiley-Blackwell, 2008), a coauthor of “The Contexts of Knowing:
Natural History of a Globally Distributed Team” (Journal of Organizational Behavior,
2004), and is a contributing author in Virtual Teams that Work: Creating Conditions
for Virtual Team Effectiveness (Jossey-Bass, 2003) and in the Handbook of Managing
Global Complexity (Blackwell, 2003).
KENNETH RIOPELLE is a research professor in industrial manufacturing engineer-

ing at Wayne State University, Detroit. His research interests include diffusion of inno-
vations, social network analysis, and global teams. A recent publication is, with J.
Gluesing et al., “An Educational Partnership for Immediate Impact,” in Partnering for
Performance: Inside Culture and Collaboration (Rowman & Littlefield, 2008). Kenneth
is a contributing author in Virtual Teams that Work: Creating Conditions for Virtual
Team Effectiveness (Jossey-Bass, 2003).

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Field Methods OnlineFirst, published on February 13, 2009 as doi:10.

From Interviews to Social Network

Keywords: qualitative analysis; mixed methods; narrative data; conversion process

This article describes the five-step process we used to convert narrative

Field Methods, Vol. XX, No. X, Month XXXX xx–xx

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This article presents the methodological approach used in a previous

DATA COLLECTION: ORAL HISTORY INTERVIEWS

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church(es) he or she attended; and other organizations to which he or she

DATA CONVERSION AND PROCESSING

Step 1: Transcribing and Storing Interviews2

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Step 2: Data Cleaning and Preparation for Importing to ATLAS.ti

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Previous versions of ATLAS.ti (prior to 5.0) required the documents to

Developing relation codes. Overall, it was important to develop an

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Developing node categories. The node categories associated with the

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Node Category Node Numbering

two required MultiNet input files, as depicted in Figure 1, labeled as comma

Step 3: Importing and Coding the Interview Text Files in ATLAS.ti

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Nodes format: N_LastName_First Name_ID Number

ATLAS.ti code relation format. The format for establishing relation

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L_Link Relation_ID Number

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When a PD (the HB interviewee) has the node (William P. Wilson)

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Interview John Doe William Wilson Link

<SPSS and Excel data manipulation steps here >

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Step 4: Creating the ATLAS.ti SPSS Data Extract

TITLE 'ATLAS.ti HE: INTERVIEWS FOR DISSERTATION 0804'

* SPSS Syntax file generated by ATLAS.ti (WIN 5.0 (Build 60))

DATA LIST RECORDS=13

VARIABLE LABELS PD 'Primary Doc'

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COMPUTE KF1 = K5 + K6 + K13 . . . etc.

Step 5: Creating an Excel MultiNet Link File

COMPUTE ID1 =0.

COMPUTE ID2 =0.

IF K109 = 1 ID2 = 870.

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Finally, issue the SPSS “Translate” command to create the finished

SAVE TRANSLATE/Outfile = 'c:\lin01.xls' / Type = XLS /Fieldnames/ / Keep =

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Name Interview No. Year to Saginaw Parents

Karen Betts 36 Born—1956 Harry and Minrose Browne

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1910 1920 1930 1940

African American population 313 328 2,853 3,315

Emergence of Family and Friend Networks

Critical Linkages among West–East Side African American Families

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Figure 12 is a school network map that illustrates which sample children

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