[2] Generalized blockmodeling was introduced in 1994 by Patrick Doreian, Vladimir Batagelj and Anuška Ferligoj.
[3] Generalized blockmodeling approach is a direct one, "where the optimal partition(s) is (are) identified based on minimal values of a compatible criterion function defined by the difference between empirical blocks and corresponding ideal blocks".
Further, it's possible to define departures from the permitted (ideal) blocktype, using criterion function.
This process of transformation steps is repeated many times, until only the best fitting partitions (with the minimized value of the criterion function) are kept as blockmodels for the future exploration of the network.
[1] Different types of generalized blockmodeling are:[3] According to Patrick Doreian, the benefits of generalized blockmodeling, are as follows:[1] According to Doreian, the benefits of generalized blockmodeling, are as follows:[1] The book with the same title, Generalized blockmodeling, written by Patrick Doreian, Vladimir Batagelj and Anuška Ferligoj, was in 2007 awarded the Harrison White Outstanding Book Award by the Mathematical Sociology Section of American Sociological Association.