Creating a Network Diagram

Generating Datasets

In the process of transcribing the claims identified as having connections with women, I realized that some supporting statements were provided by witnesses who also appeared on other claims. This was particularly true of claims originating in the Niagara District, which was most heavily populated district in the province and most severely impacted by the war. These share connections indicated that there may be recognizable patterns in the claimant-witness relationships across all the claims.

To examine these patterns, I separated out the claims generated in the Niagara District, then identified and extracted named entities in the claims to create two separate datasets. The first is a list of entities, often called points or nodes, that includes a name and category indicator. All entities fall into one of four categories:

1. Female Claimant
2. Female Claimant/Witness
3. Female Witness
4. Male Witness

A larger analysis of the claims would include more categories such as “Male Claimant,” but this initial study focuses on claims involving women living in Niagara during the War of 1812. For the entities classified as “Female Claimant,” I also identified their place of residence to the township level. For all entities, I also calculated the number of connections between them and one other entity. This dataset includes 231 unique entities. The second dataset includes a list of connections between entities, also known as links or edges. This dataset has only two observations: a claiming entity and a supporting entity. This dataset includes 204 unique connections. Both datasets are available on the project website.

Generating a Network Visualization

Because the primary goal of this process was to highlight patterns within the group of Niagara claimants, I chose to use a web-based network visualization tool called Flourish. This allowed easy upload of data and customization of the visual elements in an interactive graphical form. Each entity is represented by a point (node), the sizes of which are determined by the number of connections (edges) between them and other points. The color of each point is determined by the category of the entity. The points are labeled with the name of the entity. Upon being clicked, the points representing claimants have pop-ups with additional information, including their location and a link to more information. The link leads to the individuals’ item in the Omeka site.

The resulting visualization, which is available on the project website, allows users to move points around to make patterns within the network more visible. It also uses color to indicate the categories of each point, allowing easy identification of claimants and witnesses of each gender. Finally, the links to Omeka items allow users to explore each individual’s story more thoroughly. For more information about the patterns visible in this network visualization, see the section on Community Support in Module 4.