Epistemic Network Analysis

ENA (Shaffer, D. W. (2017) Quantitative Ethnography. ISBN: 0578191687) is a method used to identify meaningful and quantifiable patterns in discourse or reasoning. ENA moves beyond the traditional frequency-based assessments by examining the structure of the co-occurrence, or connections in coded data. Moreover, compared to other methodological approaches, ENA has the novelty of (1) modeling whole networks of connections and (2) affording both quantitative and qualitative comparisons between different network models. Shaffer, D.W., Collier, W., & Ruis, A.R. (2016).

rENA

What is ENA

Epistemic Network Analysis (ENA) is a method for identifying and quantifying connections among elements in coded data and representing them in dynamic network models. A key feature of the ENA tool is that it enables researchers compare different networks, both visually and through summary statistics that reflect the weighted structure of connections. The interface also allows users to see the original data that contributed to each of the connections in the network representation. ENA can thus be used to address a wide range of qualitative and quantitative research questions.

Researchers have used ENA to analyze and visualize a wide range of phenomena, including: cognitive connections that students make while solving complex problems; interactions among different regions of the brain in fMRI data; social gaze coordination; integration of operative skills during surgical procedures; and many others.

Installation

From CRAN

install.packages("rENA")

Development Version

install.packages("rENA", repos = c("https://rena.qe-libs.org/cran/", "https://cran.rstudio.org"))

Resources

To learn more about ENA, visit the resources page.