Analysing the map
Once you have a map, you may want to examine it for themes and patterns. This is easiest if you examine portions of the map, or 'sub-maps', one at a time. As Barbrook-Johnson and Penn (2021) explain , network analysis can be combined with subjective information to answer a range of questions, as indicated in the table below.
| Way to start | Starting point options | How to build | Interpretation | How to do it with PRSM |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stakeholder-suggested factors | Intervention or controllable factors | Downstream factors and edges | What is the intervention or controllable factor affecting? Unexpected indirect effects? | Select the intervention factor and choose ‘Show only Factors downstream’ |
| For multiple factors create a union or intersection of multiple downstream submaps | How are multiple interventions complementing or clashing with each other? | Select all the interventions and choose ‘Show only Factors downstream’ | ||
| Paths between intervention factors and outcome factors, including ego networks of factors on paths | What does the intervention rely on to achieve its goals? What wider context might affect it? | Select all the factors on the path(s) between the intervention(s) and the outcomes(s), and choose ‘Show only Factors 1 link away’ (or 2 or 3 links away) | ||
| Important or outcome factors | Upstream factors and edges | What is influencing the thing we care about? Constraints? Control? Buffered or buffeted? | Select the intervention factor and choose ‘Show only Factors upstream’ | |
| For multiple factors create a union or intersection of ego networks. Or, pull out paths between outcomes. | What trade-offs or synergies might there be between achieving the things we care about? | Select all the interventions and choose ‘Show only Factors upstream’ | ||
Ego networks
| What is influencing the thing we care about, what does it influence and how do those things interact? | Select the factor and choose ‘Show only Factors 1 link away’ (or 2 or 3 links away) | ||
| Union or intersection of upstream factors and edges | What factors influence multiple outcomes? Identify potential levers in the system, co-benefits, synergies, or risks. | Select all the outcome factors and choose ‘Show only Factors upstream’ | ||
| Vulnerable to change factors | Up and/or downstream factors and edges | What might mitigate change in this factor? What impact might change have? | Select one or more factors and choose ‘Show only Factors 1 link away’ (or 2 or 3 links away) | |
| Union/intersection multiple downstream sub maps | Are there compound risks, how might interventions interact with external change? | Select factors and choose ‘Show only Factors downstream’ | ||
| System-suggested factors | Influential (i.e. many outgoing connections) | Downstream factors and edges | What is this influential thing affecting? Vulnerability or lever? | First, set ‘Size Factors to: Outputs’ to see which factors have many outgoing connections. Then select an influential factor and choose ‘Show only Factors downstream’. |
| Central to the map (i.e. well-connected, or bridging) | Downstream and/or upstream factors and edges | What is influencing this central factor? What influence does it have? Bottleneck, bridge, transmitter? | First, set ‘Size Factors to: Centrality’ to see which factors are central. Then select a central factor and choose ‘Show only Factors upstream’. | |
| Ego networks | What does this factor bridge or connect? | First, set ‘Size Factors to: Centrality’ to see which factors are central. Then select a central factor and choose ‘Show only Factors 1 link away’. | ||
| Influenced (i.e. many incoming connections) | Upstream factors and edges | What is influencing this highly influenced factor? Buffered or buffeted? | First, set ‘Size Factors to: Inputs’ to see which factors have many incoming connections. Then select a factor and choose ‘Show only Factors upstream'. | |
| Unusual network property | Any of the above | Does this factor play an important but counter-intuitive role in the system? | Set ‘Size Factors to: Leverage’ to see which factors have either many incoming but few outgoing connections or few outgoing but many incoming connections. |
With thanks to Alex Penn and Pete Barbrook-Johnson for the original of this table, adapted from