Construction and structural analysis of family social networks from a complex network perspective: Evidence from CFPS data

This paper proposes a novel method for constructing large-scale family social networks when direct relational data are unavailable. Integrating theories of homophily, social cognition, weak ties and geographic decay, we develop a socio-physics framework to construct connections between households. By applying this method to the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) 2010 data, we construct and validate a network of 13[Formula: see text]460 households. The resulting network exhibits key features of complex systems, such as small-world properties and high modularity. The degree distribution approximately aligns with the order of magnitude of Dunbar’s number, suggesting cognitive constraints may shape family network formation. Our analysis reveals a duality in network influence: local hubs are primarily shaped by geographic proximity, while bridge nodes are associated with economic and educational capital. Robustness tests confirm the method’s stability, with parameter sensitivity below 15% and a bootstrap coefficient of variation of 2.7%. This approach provides a practical tool for analyzing family networks and offers insights for network-based social policy design.