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They don’t. You need to read Lester Ward, the father of the welfare state and the first president of the American Sociological Association.

The first thing I would recommend you is to read a lot about networks on the perspective you are interested on (business, sociology...). Then read som on SNA applied to the specific topic you are interested.Try to find academic and scientific publications on the subject.On SNA itself, I would recommend reading:Borgatti, S., & Halgin, D. S. (1996). Analyzing Affiliation Networks. In C. P & S. J (Eds.), The Sage Handbook of Social Network Analysis. Sage Publications.Knoke, D., & Yang, S. (2008). Social network analysis: Quantitative Applications in the Social Sciences. Sage Publications.Otte, E., & Rousseau, R. (2002). Social network analysis: a powerful strategy, also for the information sciences. Journal of Information Science, 28(6), 441 453.Wasserman, S., & Faust, K. (1994). Social network analysis: Methods and applications (Vol. 8). Cambridge university press.Wellman, B. (1988). Structural analysis: from method and metaphor to theory and substance. In B. Wellman & S. Berkowitz (eds.), Social Structures: A Network Approach. Cambridge university press.If you are interested on reading about networks and organizations, I would recommend reading:Achrol, R. (1997). Changes in the theory of interorganizational relations in marketing: Toward a network paradigm. Journal of the academy of marketing science, 25(1), 56 71.Biermann, R. (2007). Towards a theory of inter-organizational networking. The Review of International Organizations, 3(2), 151 177.Borgatti, S., & Foster, P. C. (2003). The Network Paradigm in Organizational Research: A Review and Typology. Journal of Management, 29(6), 991 1013.Cowan, R. (2006). Network models of innovation and knowledge diffusion. Clusters, Networks and Innovation, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 29 53.Fombrun, C. (1982). Strategies for network research in organizations. Academy of Management Review, 280-291.Jarillo, J. C. (1988). On Strategic Networks. Strategic Management Journal, 9, 31 41.Kilduff, M., Tsai, W., & Hanke, R. (2006). A paradigm too far? A dynamic stability reconsideration of the social network research program. Academy of Management Review, 31(4), 1031 1048.Lopes, H. E. G. (2004). Theoretical reflections about the concept of social networks. Revista de Administração Contemporânea, 8(1), 179 200.Nohria, N., & Eccles, R. G. (1992). Networks and organizations: Structure, form and action. Harvard Business School.Oliver, a. L., & Ebers, M. (1998). Networking Network Studies: An Analysis of Conceptual Configurations in the Study of Inter-organizational Relationships. Organization Studies, 19(4), 549 583.The topic of Network Analysis is greatly covered by Professor Newman. There are some recommended reads:Newman, M. (2001). Scientific collaboration networks. I. Network construction and fundamental results. Physical Review E, 64(1), 1 8.Newman, M. (2001). The structure of scientific collaboration networks. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 98(2), 404 9.Newman, M. (2004). Who is the best connected scientist? A study of scientific coauthorship networks. in Complex Networks, E. Ben-Naim, H. Frauenfelder, and Z. Toroczkai (eds.), pp. 337 370, Springer, Berlin.Newman, M. (2004). Coauthorship networks and patterns of scientific collaboration. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 101 Suppl, 5200 5.Newman, M., & Park, J. (2003). Why social networks are different from other types of networks. Physical Review, E 68, 036122.Newman, M., Strogatz, S. H., & Watts, D. J. (2001). Random graphs with arbitrary degree distributions and their applications. Physical Review E, 64(2), 19. Statistical Mechanics; Disordered Systems and Neural Networks.A sociological approach:Blau, P. (1977). A macrosociological theory of social structure. American journal of sociology, 83(1), 26 54.Blau, P. (1987). Contrasting Theoretical Perspectives. In: Jeffrey, E, Alexander, C. (ed.). The micro-macro link: based on a Conference Sponsored by the Theory Sections of the German and American Sociological Associations Held June 21-24, 1984 in Giessen, West Germany (pp. 71 85). University of California Press.Boissevain, J. (1968). The place of non-groups in the social sciences. Man, 3(4), 542 556.Bourdieu, P. (1980). Le capital social. Actes de la recherche en sciences sociales, 31, 2 3.Brass, D. (2011). A social network perspective on industrial/organizational psychology. In Oxford Handbook of Organisational Psychology. Oxford University Press.Burt, R. (1980). Autonomy in a social topology. American Journal of Sociology, 85(4), 892 925.Burt, R. (1995). Structural holes: The social structure of competition. Harvard University Press.Burt, R. (2001). Structural holes versus network closure as social capital. In: Nan Lin, K. S. Cook, & R. S. Burt (Eds.), Social Capital: Theory and Research (pp. 31 56). Aldine de Gruyter.Burt, R. (2002). Bridge decay. Social networks, 24(4).Cohen, J. (1977). Sources of peer group homogeneity. Sociology of Education, 50(4), 227 241.Coleman, J. (1988). Social capital in the creation of human capital. American Journal of Sociology, 94(1988).Cook, K. (2005). Networks, Norms, and Trust: The Social Psychology of Social Capital - 2004 Cooley Mead Award Address. Social Psychology Quarterly, 68(1), 4 14Goyal, S., & Vegaredondo, F. (2007). Structural holes in social networks. Journal of Economic Theory, 137(1), 460 492.Granovetter, M. (1973). The strength of weak ties. American Journal of Sociology, 78: 1360-1380.Granovetter, M. (1985). Economic action and social structure: the problem of embeddedness. American Journal of Sociology, 91(3).Granovetter, M. (1992). Economic institutions as social constructions: a framework for analysis. Acta Sociologica, 35(1), 3-11.Katz, N., Lazer, D., Arrow, H., & Contractor, N. (2004). Network Theory and Small Groups. Small Group Research, 35(3), 307 332.Lin, N. (1999). Building a Network Theory of Social Capital, 22(1).Lin, N. (2000). Inequality in Social Capital. Contemporary Sociology, 29(6), 785 795.Lin, N, Ensel, W., & Vaughn, J. (1981). Social resources and strength of ties: Structural factors in occupational status attainment. American Sociological Review, 46(4), 393 405.Marsden, P. V. (1990). Network data and measurement. Annual Review of Sociology, 16, 435 463.

According to the American Sociological Association the most popular sub-fields within the discipline are Gender, Education, Medical Sociology, Race/Ethnicity (often combined with Gender and Sexuality), Culture, Criminology, Environmental Sociology, Social Psychology, Marriage & Family, and Political Sociology. The most popular job listings for 2013 within the ASA job bank were Criminology, Medical Sociology, Research Methods, and Quantitative Methods (aka statistics for the social sciences). The job listings for statistics and research methods are a result of most programs requiring sociology undergraduate majors to complete these courses; for Medical Sociology and Criminology the implications and applications align well with evaluative research on public policy. Gender and Race are popular research areas because they can be combined with almost any other specialty for research.It is worth noting that Medical Sociology is likely experiencing a rise in popularity due to its recent inclusion in medical curricula. Public health experts are becoming increasingly aware of the impact of environmental factors (such as access to clean water, health care, and safe working conditions) on health outcomes. While various governments have an interest in public health outcomes, as they are a major metric of quality of life, I believe there has been an increasing awareness that race, socio-economic status, gender, and other demographic variables have a large role in determining individual health.As for criminology it too has public policy implications and is ripe for evaluative research and thus has a potential source of funding from federal, state, and even local government. There has also been an increasing awareness of the phenomenon (within the United States) of mass incarceration and the over representation of minority men and low income persons within the justice system. Furthermore there is a broad desire to understand what conditions create crime and criminals so that perhaps proactive intervening measures can be taken.It is important to note that there is a distinction between what can be called "public sociology" and the sort that is common within academia. Public sociology is done by social science researchers however there findings are published in the form of books and popular press articles. Their methodology is diverse but for longer published pieces tends to be ethnographic or more generally qualitative. Sociology within the academe on the other hand frequently prioritizes either purely quantitative or mixed methods research to ensure generalizability. Moreover since those that research the social sciences tend to be less fluent in mathematics there is a premium on anyone who can utilize sophisticated methods of data analysis.There are many other research concentrations available, although some are more marginal than others. To name a few: Demography, Rural Sociology, Urban Sociology, Comparative/Historical Sociology, Sociological Theory, Sociology of Knowledge, Sociology of Science and Technology, Social Stratification, Work & Labor Organizations, Sociology of Education (a perennial favorite for the ever self-reflexive world of academia), Social Movements, Deviance (out of vogue at the moment - it is not as acceptable to label behaviors and individuals as "deviant"), and many others.