nwpermute

Generate permutation of a network

Syntax

nwpermute 
[netname]
[,
generate(newnetname)
replace
xvars]

generate(newnetname)	Save permutation as new network
replace	Replace existing network with permutation
xvars	Generate Stata variables for the network

Description

Produces a random permutation of the network netname. In such a permutation, the nodes are randomly reshuffled, while the overall structure of the network remains the same. Either option replace or generate needs to be specfied.

A simple example illustrates what the command does. First, we generate a regular lattice network.

• . nwclear
• . nwlattice 3 3

• . nwsummarize lattice, matonly

• 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
• hline 37

• 1 c

  0 c

• 2 c

  1 0 c

• 3 c

  0 1 0 c

• 4 c

  1 0 0 0 c

• 5 c	0 1 0 1 0 c

• 6 c	0 0 1 0 1 0 c

• 7 c	0 0 0 1 0 0 0 c

• 8 c	0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 c

• 9 c	0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 c

• hline 37

Now, let us permute the network lattice.

• . nwpermute lattice, replace

• . nwsummarize lattice, matonly

• 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
• hline 37

• 1 c

  0 c

• 2 c

  1 0 c

• 3 c

  0 0 0 c

• 4 c

  0 0 1 0 c

• 5 c	1 0 0 0 0 c

• 6 c	0 1 0 1 0 0 c

• 7 c	0 0 0 0 1 0 0 c

• 8 c	0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 c

• 9 c	0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 c

• hline 37

The structure of the network remains exactly the same, however, the nodes have a different order. Often, such a permutation is desired to recalculate network statistics (and derive standard errors and confidence intervals for these statistics) while keeping the overall structure of the network constant (see more nwqap, nwcorrelate).

Supported network types

Binary: yes. Directed: yes. Weighted: yes - tie values move with their ties under the random relabeling (a pure permutation of the existing adjacency matrix). Signed: yes, values including negative are preserved. Two-mode: not checked.

See also

• nwqap, nwcorrelate

• last certified : 24 Aug 2026