Simplifying complex network data collection.
Network Canvas provides free and open-source software for surveying networks, designed around the needs of both researchers and their participants.
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A selection of tools to facilitate your research
We provide a complete end-to-end workflow for networks research, with an app for survey design and for interviewing. Using these tools, researchers can easily design, capture, and export network data.
Architect
A desktop (macOS, Windows, Linux) tool for visually designing Network Canvas interviews. Architect allows subject experts to focus on the design and implementation of their study, without needing to learn complex new technology.
Interviewer
A desktop/tablet app for administering Network Canvas interviews in the field. Interviewer provides minimalist, participant-centric interfaces for all the data collection tasks associated with personal network interviewing.
Fresco
Bringing Network Canvas interviews to the web! Fresco is a pilot project that allows researchers to conduct Network Canvas interviews in a web browser.
Learn more
Our goal is to build a suite of tools for the research community that is high quality, free, safe for research, and built to last. Watch our project video to learn more about why we created Network Canvas, and visit our YouTube channel for more videos.
Design Principles
Underpinning all Network Canvas software is a set of five design principles. These principles are derived from our observations and experiences regarding the problems facing researchers wishing to design and conduct personal networks research.
Projects
We have a number of ongoing projects which aim to either evaluate and enhance the software, provide new methods of deployment, or to create entirely new ways of collecting network data.
Partner Services
A project to map the needs of Partner Services, and evaluate the utility of Network Canvas as a public health tool to aid disease investigation and increase data quality.
Fresco
Bringing Network Canvas interviews to the web! Fresco is a pilot project that allows researchers to conduct Network Canvas interviews in a web browser.
Studio
Grants Using Network Canvas
We are proud to say Network Canvas is being actively used in a number of federally funded grants in the United States, across a diverse set of research contexts, institutions, and funding bodies.
Recent Publications Using Network Canvas
The following are the four most recent publications utilizing Network Canvas. For a full list of publications, see our documentation article.
If you would like to feature your publication, please let us know by posting in our community site thread.
Addressing Bribery and Associated Social Norms in Healthcare: Results of a Behaviour Change Intervention in Tanzania
European Journal of Social Psychology.
Camargo C, Gadenne V, Mkoji V, Perera D, Persian R, Sambaiga R, Stark T
Social network reductions are associated with negative symptoms in schizophrenia
Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology
Zhang L, James S, Standridge J, Condray R, Allen D, Strauss G
“There Are Support resources, but They Are Kind of Hidden”: Social Network Analysis of College Students’ Support Systems in Relation to Type 1 Diabetes Management
Frontiers in Human Dynamics
Malova E
Las marcas de lo institucional en el funcionamiento de las redes de apoyo: el caso de docentes peruanos en tiempos de pandemia
revista hispana para el análisis de redes sociales
Anaya M, Duffo N
Core Team
Our project team comprises individuals across a variety of disciplines and specializations.
Kate Banner
Northwestern University
Michelle Birkett
Northwestern University
Caden Buckhalt
Northwestern University
Noshir Contractor
Northwestern University
Bernie Hogan
University of Oxford
Patrick Janulis
Northwestern University
Joshua Melville
Northwestern University
Gregory Phillips II
Northwestern University
Contractors
Previous Contractors
Mirfayz Karimoff - Worked with the team during the Fresco and Studio projects.
Jabulani Mpofu - Worked with the team during the start of the Fresco and Studio projects.
Jamie Chung - Played an important role in bootstrapping the project, and establishing our styling system.
Sunjay Kumar - Implemented several features within Interviewer.
Bryan Fox - Made significant technical contributions across all aspects of our software.
Rebecca Madsen - A key long-term collaborator and expert in finding and fixing quality issues within the software.
Steve Mckellar - Senior developer and key long-term collaborator who played a vital role in designing and implementing Architect, as well as implementing testing strategies.
Matt Meshulam - Established our dev-ops workflow for deploying and managing our infrastructure.
Scientific Advisors
jimi adams, Rich D'Aquilla, Mike Bass, Martin Everett, Abel Kho, Carl Latkin, Brian Mustanski
Interns
Xiaowei (a Computer Science undergraduate at Northwestern) helped our team to explore enhancements to the user experience of Architect.
Xiaowei Chen
Summer '22 Intern
Anika used her knowledge of psychology and music production to develop interaction sounds for the Interviewer app. She also helped create content for the Studio project website.
Anika Wilsnack
Summer '23 Intern
Institutions
The software is being developed by a team of researchers and developers based at Northwestern University and the University of Oxford, as well as several external contracted developers. We are grateful for the prior and ongoing funding from the National Institutes of Health that make this work possible.
The intellectual property and copyright associated with the software is controlled by a registered not-for-profit, the Complex Data Collective, comprising the core project staff.
