Introduction

StOCNET is an open software system for the statistical analysis of social networks using advanced statistical models. StOCNET provides a platform to make a number of statistical methods, that previously were privately owned, available to a wider audience. The distinguishing feature of the methods included in the StOCNET system is that they are based on explicit probability models for networks.
A wide array of statistical network methods is available (as described in The Software) for operation under Windows.

The software for StOCNET has been developed in collaboration between software engineers of Science Plus, and the researchers who contributed the programs that are included in StOCNET.

A flexible and easily available data structure and user interface has been developed such that new methods can easily be included. This enables the possibility to modify existing methods, and add new methods that follow the same structure. This will in general be easier than programming a new stand-alone program. Researchers who are interested in contributing are requested to contact us.

Summarized, the three main goals of the StOCNET project are:

1. the incorporation of important recently developed methods for statistical modeling of social networks in user-friendly and easily-available software,
2. more efficiency in the implementation of new methods by setting up a system with common data structure and user interface, and
3. faster availability of new methods.

There is a StOCNET Users' Group with address http://groups.yahoo.com/groups/stocnet/, to exchange information and help each other with technical advice on using the StOCNET software to analyze network data.

StOCNET's main possibilities consist of:

• execution of different statistical (stochastic) methods;
• calculation of some common descriptive network statistics;
• data transformation and/or selection;
• simulation possibilities.