Sociology 544: Social Network Analysis

Princeton University
Fall 2010
Time: Tuesday 1pm-4pm (first half of semester)
Location: 190 Wallace Hall
Instructor: Matthew Salganik

This six-week seminar will provide graduate students an introduction to social network analysis. Obviously in such a short amount of time we cannot cover all of the relevant material, but I have chosen to focus on area that will provide a foundation for future research. The readings are listed below, and I will do my best to fill in the gaps during class discussion. Also, I expect that the readings will evolve some based on student interest. There are no official prerequisites for the course and students from other departments are welcome.

Now a little about mechanics. Each three hour class will consist of a general discussion based on several readings Then, students will take turns presenting specific papers that apply the topics from the general discussion. Students are expected to come to class prepared for the general discussion as well as present a few articles during the course of the semester. There will be no exam, but students will be expected to complete a final paper or project.

Your grade will be based on the following components:

Introduction and the small-world problem (9/21/10)

In this first class we will start with some introductory reading and then learn about the work done on the so-called "small-world" problem. This problem is a nice way to begin the course because it touches on many themes we will revise throughout, and it is one of the few problems in network analysis that has had a sustained combination of empirical and theoretic work.

For general discussion

For student presentation

Describing network structure, global level (9/28/10)

For the next two weeks, we will review common measures of network structure at both the global level and the local level.

For general discussion

For student presentation

Describing network structure, local level (10/5/10)

For general discussion

For student presentation

Diffusion, spread, and contagion in networks: models (10/12/10)

This week we will review a number of models of how things---both diseases and social behavior---spread and how that spread is affected by the structure of the underlying contact network.

For general discussion

For student presentation

Diffusion, spread, and contagion in networks: empirics (10/19/10)

This week we will review attempts to empirically study the spreading of social behavior on networks and the many of the challenges involved. Both experimental and observation studies will be discussed.

For student presentation

Networks and time (10/26/10)

Given the growing availability of "digital trace" data, we now have the ability to study how networks change in time, but this also introduces a number of conceptual questions. What if the data we have is not about ties, but about interactions (e.g., email exchanges, conversations, sexual encounters)? What does the dynamics of ties mean for the spreading processes we read about previously? This week we will review some of has been done in this emerging area of research.

For general discussion

For student presentation