ANALYSIS OF SOCIAL NETWORKS: A STUDY APPLIED IN THE MILK NETWORK OF THE MUNICIPALITY OF PATO BRANCO (PR)

Abstract

The objective of this article is to analyze aspects of the social network established in relation to the milk activity in the municipality of Pato Branco, State of Paraná, from the elements of density, centrality and reciprocity present in this network. For that, a case study was used, based on a quantitative-qualitative research. With regard to data collection, we used primary sources from the field research technique, with the application of interviews with semi-structured scripts involving the various participants of the studied network. The results show that there is low density and reciprocity in this network, however, the centrality (horizontality of the network) presented a result that can be considered good. From the presented results, it was identified that even with the local presence of several support agents, the majority of these have little interaction with the milk network studied. Regarding the endogenous development, it is noticed that the milk activity is strong local inducer, contributing considerably with socioeconomic aspects, however, what is observed is that the activity demands a greater local organization.