Relationship
Bipartite network
Shows links between two distinct entity types, with no within-set links.
- Diagram
- Relationship
- Two-group structure
What it answers
Which members of one type connect to another?
- Shape
- Two node sets connected across sets
- What it shows
- Shared affiliations and cross-type hubs.
Example
The question
Which suppliers serve which of our product lines?
Suppliers linked to the product lines they supply (bipartite network)
Illustrative data. It belongs to no company.
When to use it
Use it when
People-skills, customers-products or similar two-type relationships.
Avoid it when
Within-type links mixed into a supposedly bipartite network.
How to read it
Read the two node sets and follow only cross-set edges.
Note
Validate that all edges cross node types.
The data you need
- Layout
- Two linked tables
- Fields
- Edges: Source,Target; Nodes: NodeID,Type with exactly two types
- One row is
- One relationship between two nodes. What is the grain?
- Rules
- Every node has one of two types, and every edge must join opposite types.
- Optional
- Separate Nodes table: NodeID,Label,Type. Include isolated nodes there.
- Preparation
- Resolve node identities and endpoint joins; define direction and duplicate/self-link handling. Aggregate weights only under a stated relationship or flow definition.
- Units
- Unweighted links encode presence. Weights need a unit; flow shares divide by stated source, destination or network totals, not an assumed common denominator.
Worked example
P1 connects to SkillA and SkillB; P2 only to SkillA. SkillA is shared by both people.
| Nodes: NodeID | Type |
|---|---|
| P1 | Person |
| S1 | Skill |
| Edges: Source | Target |
| P1 | S1 |