{"schema":"https://ver.cy/schemas/card/1.0.0","id":"vr.tr.centrality","code":"thing-q5062194","url":"https://ver.cy/models/thing/q5062194/","name":"centrality","alternateNames":["eigenvector centrality","closeness centrality","betweenness centrality","Katz centrality"],"kind":"thing","status":"published","version":"0.2.0-wave.2","language":"en","classifiers":{"family":"Thing Registry","category":"Cross-cutting context","entryKind":"thing","plane":"XCT","domain":["XCT.QTY"],"industry":[],"navPath":"","tags":[],"facets":{}},"whatItIs":"A family of measures in network analysis that quantify how important or influential a node is within a graph, including degree centrality counting connections, closeness centrality based on distances, betweenness centrality based on shortest paths passing through a node, eigenvector centrality and Katz centrality based on the importance of neighbours, and PageRank; centrality is used in social network analysis, biology, transport, infrastructure and web search.","purpose":"Let an agent explain centrality measures and their interpretations, support computing and choosing measures for a network, describe applications, and support learning.","scope":{"in":[],"out":[],"boundaries":[]},"distinguishingFeatures":["Node-level metric","Multiple definitions","Interpretation-dependent","Computable"],"structure":{"bundles":[{"id":"understand","name":"Understand","description":"What centrality is.","layers":[{"id":"measures","name":"Measures","description":"Measures and definitions.","findings":[{"id":"measures-finding","name":"Measures","description":"Measures.","questions":[{"text":"How are degree, closeness, betweenness, eigenvector, Katz and PageRank centrality defined, and what does each capture?","kind":"definition"},{"text":"Which entry fits a specific measure?","kind":"action"}]}]},{"id":"interpret","name":"Interpret","description":"Interpretation.","findings":[{"id":"interpret-finding","name":"Interpret","description":"Interpretation.","questions":[{"text":"How should centrality scores be interpreted, and why do measures disagree?","kind":"definition"},{"text":"Is centrality being confused with causal influence?","kind":"boundary"}]}]}]},{"id":"compute","name":"Compute","description":"Computing centrality.","layers":[{"id":"choose","name":"Choose","description":"Choosing a measure.","findings":[{"id":"choose-finding","name":"Choose","description":"Choosing.","questions":[{"text":"Which centrality measure suits this network and question?","kind":"action"},{"text":"How are weighted and directed networks handled?","kind":"definition"}]}]},{"id":"software","name":"Software","description":"Software and scale.","findings":[{"id":"software-finding","name":"Software","description":"Software.","questions":[{"text":"How is centrality computed with network analysis libraries, and how are large graphs handled?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which entry fits network analysis software?","kind":"action"}]}]}]},{"id":"apply","name":"Apply","description":"Applications.","layers":[{"id":"social","name":"Social","description":"Social networks.","findings":[{"id":"social-finding","name":"Social","description":"Social.","questions":[{"text":"How is centrality used in social network analysis, epidemiology and organisational studies?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which findings are contested?","kind":"boundary"}]}]},{"id":"systems","name":"Systems","description":"Infrastructure and biology.","findings":[{"id":"systems-finding","name":"Systems","description":"Systems.","questions":[{"text":"How is centrality used in transport, power grids, protein networks and web search?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which entry fits a specific application?","kind":"action"}]}]}]},{"id":"learn","name":"Learn","description":"History and teaching.","layers":[{"id":"history","name":"History","description":"History.","findings":[{"id":"history-finding","name":"History","description":"History.","questions":[{"text":"How did centrality measures develop from Bavelas and Freeman to PageRank?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which references are standard?","kind":"provenance"}]}]},{"id":"teach","name":"Teach","description":"Teaching.","findings":[{"id":"teach-finding","name":"Teach","description":"Teaching.","questions":[{"text":"How can centrality be taught with small example networks?","kind":"action"},{"text":"Which misconceptions arise?","kind":"provenance"}]}]}]}]},"agentConduct":{"may":["Compute degree, betweenness, closeness and other centrality measures on networks it is authorized to analyse.","State which centrality measure was used and why, since they rank nodes differently.","Explain the limits of a centrality score as evidence of real influence."],"mustNot":["Present a centrality score as proof that a person is a leader, organiser or suspect.","Rank people in a social network by centrality and act on them without their knowledge or a lawful basis.","Compute centrality on personal communications data it is not authorized to process.","Hide the choice of measure when it changes who comes out on top."],"requiresHuman":["Using centrality rankings to target people for investigation, sanctions or exclusion."]},"ethics":{"considerations":["Network centrality is used to single out people in surveillance and policing, often on thin evidence.","A central position can reflect circumstance, not responsibility."],"affectedParties":["People in analysed networks","Analysts and decision-makers","Communities under surveillance"]},"owners":{"steward":"Nobody owns the concept; the owner of a network dataset answers for each analysis.","roles":[],"masterSystems":[]},"relations":[{"target":"Q17004438","type":"parent","note":"registry parent class"},{"target":"Q722659","type":"parent","note":"registry parent class"},{"target":"graph property","type":"related","note":"category"},{"target":"metric","type":"related","note":"category"},{"target":"classification","type":"related","note":"ranking and classifying nodes"},{"target":"control","type":"related","note":"influence in networks"}],"interaction":{"identity":{"applicability":"required","items":["Vercy registry: vr.tr.centrality","Wikidata: Q5062194 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5062194)"]},"properties":{"applicability":"not-applicable","items":[]},"recognition":{"applicability":"optional","items":["Node importance in a graph","Degree, closeness, betweenness, eigenvector","Density and clustering describe whole networks","Not physical; scores on nodes of a graph."]},"capabilities":{"applicability":"required","items":["explain measures","support computing and choosing","describe applications","support learning"]},"hazards":{"applicability":"required","items":["Choosing a measure that does not match the question","Misinterpreting scores as causal influence","Computational cost on large graphs"]},"interfaces":{"applicability":"required","items":["Mathematical definitions in network science","Software library conventions"]},"context":{"applicability":"required","items":["Measuring node importance in networks.","degree centrality","closeness centrality","betweenness centrality","eigenvector, Katz and PageRank centrality","centrality in weighted and directed networks"]}},"sources":[{"title":"Wikidata item Q5062194: centrality","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5062194","note":"identity and sense of the item"},{"title":"Wikipedia: Centrality","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centrality","note":"general description of the item"}],"openQuestions":["Should each measure be a separate entry?","How should software be linked?","How should applications be catalogued?"],"resources":{"spec":"/models/things/publications/thing-q5062194/spec.json"},"provenance":{"origin":"thing registry research (pass 2)","builtFrom":["models/things/publications/thing-q5062194/spec.json"],"providers":["Claude"],"researchStatus":"unreviewed","generatedAt":"2026-09-12T01:09:16Z","builder":"tools/build_cards.py@1.0.0"},"completeness":{"sections":{"classifiers":"filled","whatItIs":"filled","purpose":"filled","distinguishingFeatures":"filled","structure":"filled","agentConduct":"filled","ethics":"filled","owners":"filled","relations":"filled","interaction.identity":"filled","interaction.properties":"not-applicable","interaction.recognition":"filled","interaction.capabilities":"filled","interaction.hazards":"filled","interaction.interfaces":"filled","interaction.context":"filled","sources":"filled"},"notes":{"_gate":"Published through the thing publication gate 1.0 on 2026-10-06T19:52:00+00:00: completeness 1.00; sense: Wikidata description; 2 live sources; review by codex: pass","interaction.properties":"Plane XCT: no invented physical properties."},"score":1.0}}