Reading Network Canvas Data: The nc_read Function

Network Canvas is a free and open-source software for collecting egocentric network data. While other tools exist for capturing these data, Network Canvas is designed around the needs of both researchers and participants alike, making it an increasingly popular tool for collecting egocentric networks. Network Canvas protocols are developed using a desktop application, entitled Network Canvas Architect. Once a researcher has constructed their protocol in Architect, the protocol is administered to participants either natively on a device running the Network Canvas Interviewer application, or remotely in a web browser using Network Canvas Fresco, currently in development.

Given Network Canvas’s increasing popularity, ideanet offers a function for reading data collected using Network Canvas, nc_read. nc_read allows users to make quick use of Network Canvas data in R, and was developed using the input of Network Canvas developers. The following vignette provides an overview of how to export data from Network Canvas Interviewer or Fresco, how to read it into R using nc_read, as well as how to quickly process these data and generate measurements using ideanet’s ego_netwrite function.

Exporting Data from Interviewer or Fresco

Interviewer

The first step in exporting data from Network Canvas Interviewer is to navigate to the Manage and Export Session Data section of the Interviewer app.

Manage and Export Session
Manage and Export Session

Next, you’ll indicate which sessions you want to export by selecting the appropriate cards and clicking “Export Selected To File.”

Select Network Canvas Sessions for Export
Select Network Canvas Sessions for Export

Next, we’ll confirm export options. Interviewer and Fresco provide the option to export data as either a GraphML file or a directory of CSV files. nc_read is only designed to read in the directory of CSVs, so users will want to select only this option. We also recommend that the “Merge Sessions” option be unselected.

NOTE: Interviewer and Fresco allow users to export data collected by different Network Canvas protocols simultaneously. However, nc_read is designed to only work with data generated by a single protocol. Please ensure that all interviews being exported are from the same protocol. nc_read will check if this is the case and return an error message if it finds data frome multiple protocols.

Confirm Network Canvas Export Options
Confirm Network Canvas Export Options

After a short wait, we simply select where we would like the zip file containing our CSV files to be saved on our computer. We will need to unzip the file before starting our data analysis described below.

Select File Location
Select File Location

Fresco

Network Canvas Fresco generates data files identical to those generated using Interviewer. However, the process for exporting these files differs slightly. Once interviews have been completed using Fresco, users can export data from the Interviews page (you can also view the export status of each interview from this page).

To export selected interviews:

  1. Navigate to the interviews page in the dashboard.

  2. Select the checkboxes next to the interviews you wish to export.

  3. Click the “export selected” button at the bottom of the table.

  4. Select “CSV” as the export options that you wish to use.

  5. Click “Start export process”.

To export all interviews:

  1. Navigate to the “interviews” page in the dashboard.

  2. Click the “Export Interview Data” button.

  3. Select “Export all interviews” from the dropdown.

  4. Select “CSV” as the export options that you wish to use.

  5. Click “Start export process”.

To export all unexported interviews:

  1. Navigate to the “interviews” page in the dashboard.

  2. Click the “Export Interview Data” button.

  3. Select “Export all unexported interviews” from the dropdown.

  4. Select “CSV” as the export options that you wish to use.

  5. Click “Start export process”.

Working with Network Canvas CSVs

Provided you selected all export options described to this point, the screenshot below provides an example of what a Network Canvas data directory should look like. All CSV files in this folder correspond to the a single Network Canvas protocol, regardless of the specific data contained in each file.