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Commentary: Measuring the shape of degree distributions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 August 2013

JENNIFER M. BADHAM
JENNIFER M. BADHAM*
Affiliation:
School of Engineering and Information Technology, Australian Defence Force Academy, Northcott Drive, Canberra ACT 2600, Australia (e-mail: research@criticalconnections.com.au)
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Abstract

Degree distribution is a fundamental property of networks. While mean degree provides a standard measure of scale, there are several commonly used shape measures. Widespread use of a single shape measure would enable comparisons between networks and facilitate investigations about the relationship between degree distribution properties and other network features. This paper describes five candidate measures of heterogeneity and recommends the Gini coefficient. It has theoretical advantages over many of the previously proposed measures, is meaningful for the broad range of distribution shapes seen in different types of networks, and has several accessible interpretations. While this paper focuses on degree, the distribution of other node-based network properties could also be described with Gini coefficients.

Keywords

degree distributionheterogeneitycentralizationGini coefficient
Type
Article Commentary
Information
Network Science , Volume 1 , Issue 2 , August 2013 , pp. 213 - 225
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

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