We study the statistical properties of the sampled networks by a random walker. We compare topological properties of the sampled networks such as degree distribution, degree-degree correlation, and clustering coefficient with those of the original networks. From the numerical results, we find that most of topological properties of the sampled networks are almost the same as those of the original networks for $\gamma \lesssim 3$. In contrast, we find that the degree distribution exponent of the sampled networks for $\gamma >3$ somewhat deviates from that of the original networks when the ratio of the sampled network size to the original network size becomes smaller. We also apply the sampling method to various real networks such as collaboration of movie actor, Worldwide Web, and peer-to-peer networks. All topological properties of the sampled networks are essentially the same as those of the original real networks.

• Received 4 December 2006

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.75.046114