MAPPing dark networks: A data transformation method to study clandestine organizations

There is a growing consensus that dark networks require special methodological considerations, but little attention has been devoted to determining which data transformation processes are best suited to the study of dark networks. Standard approaches to the transformation of multi-modal data “fold” matrices, by binarizing the network and multiplying it against its transpose. Unfortunately, this process produces exaggerated results when applied to weighted networks, and consequently researchers often disregard information on tie-strength when transforming data. This paper evaluates previous attempts to overcome this limitation and assesses projection methods discovered by biologists and physicists, who have studied the problem of transforming weighted multi-modal networks within the specific context of these disciplines. However, the assumptions underlying these transformation processes limit their applicability to dark networks. This paper, therefore, offers the Median Additive Projection Process (MAPP), an approach to data transformation specifically designed for implementation in weighted, multi-modal dark networks. MAPP accounts for the ambiguity inherent to clandestine subject matter by treating relationship strength in a probabilistic fashion. Because agents' one-mode centrality rankings change significantly when different projection processes are applied to the same two-mode network, MAPP allows researchers to more accurately identify central actors in dark networks.