Belief Network Visualization

This visualization demonstrates how belief networks evolve over time, allowing you to explore the dynamic relationships between variables in the General Social Survey (GSS) dataset. The interactive controls let you play through different time periods and observe changes in network structure and centrality metrics.

About This Visualization

This visualization analyses the temporal evolution of belief networks from the General Social Survey (GSS), showing how correlations between social and political variables change over different time periods. You can use the interactive controls to:

  • Play through time periods automatically or manually select specific periods
  • Adjust edge thresholds to focus on stronger relationships between variables
  • Examine various centrality metrics to identify key variables in the belief network
  • Observe how the structure of belief systems evolves over time

How to Use

  1. Use the play button to automatically advance through time periods
  2. Adjust the slider to manually select specific time periods
  3. Set the edge threshold to filter weak correlations between variables
  4. View centrality metrics to identify important variables in the belief network
  5. Toggle "Freeze Physics" to stabilize node positions

About the Data

The General Social Survey (GSS) is a sociological survey used to collect data on demographic characteristics and attitudes of residents of the United States. This visualization maps correlations between various social and political variables across different time periods, showing how these relationships strengthen or weaken over time.

Highlighted variables (in red) represent key political viewpoints that often serve as central nodes in the belief network.

For more information about this research or to access the underlying data and code, please contact me at tim.booker(at)uni-graz.at.