English

Modeling partitions of individuals

Methodology 2021-08-03 v2 Applications

Abstract

Despite the central role of self-assembled groups in animal and human societies, statistical tools to explain their composition are limited. We introduce a statistical framework for cross-sectional observations of groups with exclusive membership to illuminate the social and organizational mechanisms that bring people together. Drawing from stochastic models for networks and partitions, the proposed framework introduces an exponential family of distributions for partitions. We derive its main mathematical properties and suggest strategies to specify and estimate such models. A case study on hackathon events applies the developed framework to the study of mechanisms underlying the formation of self-assembled project teams.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2009.13974,
  title  = {Modeling partitions of individuals},
  author = {Marion Hoffman and Per Block and Tom A. B. Snijders},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2009.13974},
  year   = {2021}
}
R2 v1 2026-06-23T18:52:39.289Z