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Density is a proportion of the number o f ties present to the number of ties possible. A network in which all actors are connected would have a value of one. Density measures tend to be lower in larger networks, as it is less likely for any one node to be tied to all others (Borgatti et al., 2013). Density measures do not offer much direct comparison value between networks of varying sizes, such as between the various districts in Bua, but the measures are still useful as a general indication o f network cohesion.

Within-group density was calculated at the Provincial whole-network level (each district was included) for each o f the three advice and one decision-making networks (Table 5.6). These calculations were repeated three times to analyze three different sub-group categories: District, age class, and gender1.

The results in Table 5.6 generally indicate that the networks are not very dense or that individuals are not connected to many others, a conclusion that can also be readily made when viewing the network maps. However, there are still a few interesting findings to note. Because almost all connections occur within rather than between districts, the age class and gender sub-group densities are particularly low. The

1 For age class and gender density measures, organizations were not included as part o f the network

decision networks tend to be denser than the farming, fishing, and yaubula advice networks. I assume this is due to the significance o f traditional decision-making hierarchies in these rural communities, whereas advice networks for natural resources management are less formalized and not as integral a component of Fijian culture. With this in mind, the low densities of the advice networks could potentially indicate that a less than desired amount of information exchange is happening between local people and that information is generally being received only from a few sources or primarily from outside one’s own group. It will be interesting to note the community members’ perspectives on this in Section B.

Table 5.6 Provincial-level W ithin-Group Density - Density values within District, age class, and gender sub-groups for four networks

Also of interest is that the density for the two youngest age classes in the decision making- network is zero, a result that shows the deference to elders for management decisions and alludes to the importance o f tying traditional governance structures into the management framework. Of less clarity is why the densities for the fishing and yaubula advice networks are zero for the over 55 age class. I speculate that this could be due to the strenuous nature o f fishing which often entails travel by a small boat to offshore reefs and free-diving with a spear-gun and limits the involvement of older individuals who also are not culturally expected to participate in such activities. Fishing knowledge and advice is likely shared more frequently between active or recently active fishers as it is a slightly more specialized activity. Most men are involved in farming, while only some men and some women participate in fisheries (with roles varying by gender). Similarly “yaubula management,” or conservation, is a recently

introduced concept and older individuals may not be as exposed to it or may not be as readily accepting of new Western concepts. The data in no way validates this; I have only provided my informed guesses to serve as ideas that may warrant further exploration.

5.3.1.2 Average Degree

Average degree is simply the average number of ties for all nodes in a network (twice the total number of ties divided by the number o f nodes). It does not take into account the direction of the ties. It is a useful measure of cohesion because, like density, it indicates whether actors are generally tied to few or many others (Borgatti et al., 2013), but does so in a less abstract way. The average degree results

calculated for the district networks in Bua are shown in Table 5.7. The values ranged from a low of 1.65 in the Wainunu fishing advice network to a high o f 4.12 in the Vuya yaubula advice network. These values are averages and therefore hide the large variations in the number of ties for each actor (including those who reported none because they did not take the survey). The subsequent indegree and outdegree calculations will provide a more detailed insight into just which actors are reportedly the most highly connected.

Overall, the average degree was greatest for the yaubula networks (2.57) and lowest for fishing networks (1.84). Although these averages are not varied across a wide range, notable variations could speak to the degree o f cohesiveness within the districts. For example, district networks with higher average degrees could be considered “more connected”. This would generally be considered a positive characteristic for NRM because best practices and management decisions may be shared and discussed more readily. A case to point out here is that of the Vuya yaubula network, which has a much higher average degree than any o f the other networks. Personal knowledge allows me to verify that the Vuya Village Yaubula Committee was the most active management committee in the Province. A higher response rate to the questionnaire would likely have shown more of the varying characteristics between the different districts that people working in Bua know to exist.

Table 5.7 Average Degree - The average number o f ties per actor within each District in four networks Network