Pajek datasets from the book

Generalized Blockmodeling
Patrick Doreian, Vladimir Batagelj, Anuška Ferligoj

Kansas Search and Rescue Network [KS]

Dataset   Kansas

Description

Kansas.mat: 20 vertices (organizations), Original directed valued matrix.
KansasBin.mat: 20 vertices (organizations), Derived directed binary matrix .
KansasLab.nam: vertex labels.
KansasLong.nam: vertex long names.

Download

complete dataset (ZIP)

Background

When disasters strike human communities, there will be physical damage, human suffering and social loss. Both organizations and individuals respond to the needs created by disasters. Their responses are more effective if their actions are coordinated in some fashion. In general, this coordination takes the form of an inter-organizational network that forms to create an overall Search and Rescue Operation (SAR) mission. Drabek T.E. et al.(1981) report a variety of these networks and discuss their formation through time, the structure(s) generated and their operation.

An inter-organizational SAR network formed after a small tornado flipped a pleasure boat on Lake Pomona, in Kansas. Although many individuals and organizations responded, Drabek T.E. et al. argue that the bulk of the SAR effort involved the 20 organizations. They include law enforcement agencies, fire departments, underwater rescue teams, general emergency agencies as well as county, state and federal agencies.

The County Sheriff (A) took control of the SAR effort once the County Attorney (D) assured him of his legal authority to do so. A command post was created in a Highway Patrol (E) facility. Lake Pomona had been created by a dam that was built and operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (I). The State Park that included the lake was under the control of the State Parks and Resources Authority (F) with the responsibility shared by the State Game and Fish Commission (G). A temporary morgue was established under the control of the County Coroner (C) at the offices of the Army Corps. Bodies were brought to this location while survivors were brought to the office of the state park. There were two ambulance services (K, L), two fire departments (R, S), two police departments (O, P) and three organizations defined in terms of their expertise in underwater rescue (M, N, T). Additionally, there was the Civil Defense Office (B) for the county and the Red Cross (Q).

The communication data among these organizations are collected in a matrix of the Kansas network. The values in the matrix represent relative magnitudes (they are reverse coded from the original data source so that higher values represent higher rates of communication) of communication intensity: (4) continuous; (3) about once an hour; (2) every few hours; (1) about once a day and (0) no communication.

One goal of blockmodeling is the establishment of the basic structure of a network.

References

1. Drabek, T.E. et al.(1981). Managing Multiorganizational Emergency Responses. Boulder: University of Colorado, IBS.

History

1. Original authors: Drabek, T.E. et al.(1981).
2. Transformed in Stran format by P. Doreian.
3. Transformed in Pajek format by P. Doreian.
4. Prepared for GBM dataset by V. Batagelj, 2. January 2007.