We first review three broad perspectives on theories of social networks: model-based theory, ontological and epistemological underpinnings, and theorization of how networks are implicated in an array of institutions and practices.We then focus on particularly promising recent integrative efforts in two areas, networks and culture, and work at the interface of biological and social organization.Next we highlight current challenges to network theory.Finally, we argue that large-scale computational approaches must be undertaken with care relative to local context and meaning.

Dynamic networks, model-based theory, networks and biology, networks and culture, social networks

Mark C. Pachucki is Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and a core member of the UMass Computational Social Science Institute. His work investigates culture, social network dynamics, and health.He is particularly interested in relational mechanisms by which social forces interact with biological processes throughout the life course.

Ronald L. Breiger is a Regents Professor and Professor of Sociology at the University of Arizona, where he holds affiliate appointments in Government and Public Policy, Statistics and Date Science, and Applied Mathematics.His interests include social network theory and methods, culture and networks, adversarial networks, and regression modeling as a network problem.