Data involving relationships and interactions are pervasive in contemporary information society but these data require distinct methods and theories for analysis and interpretation. Network science is an umbrella term that encompasses interdisciplinary theories and methods for analyzing social, information, and other complex networks. Network science provides tools to develop quantitative representations linking micro-level processes to macro-level structures across diverse empirical settings like organizations, online communities, and archives. Students will develop their familiarity with the methods and theories to understand the fundamentals of networks, metrics for characterizing their structure, and the dynamics of and on networks.
The class is split up into four modules: (1) Fundamentals introduces the unique vocabulary of network science and its unique data and visualizations; (2) Structure covers the metrics for describing networks across multiple levels of analysis; (3) Dynamics explores how networks can explain change in social systems; (4) Applications extends the network framework to more advanced methods. See the Course Outline below for more details.
| Module | Week | Dates | Topics |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fundamentals | 1 | Aug 24; Aug 26 | Fundamentals of networks |
| Fundamentals | 2 | Aug 31; Sep 2 | Data and ethics of networks |
| Fundamentals | 3 | Sep 7; Sep 9 | Visualizing networks |
| Structure | 4 | Sep 14; Sep 16 | Node-level structure |
| Structure | 5 | Sep 21; Sep 23 | Local-level structure |
| Structure | 6 | Sep 28; Sep 30 | Global-level structure |
| Structure | 7 | Oct 5; Oct 7 | Community structure |
| Dynamics | 8 | Oct 12; Oct 14 | Random networks |
| Dynamics | 9 | Oct 19; Oct 21 | Network growth |
| Dynamics | 10 | Oct 26; Oct 28 | Network growth |
| Dynamics | 11 | Nov 2; Nov 4 | Similarity and homophily |
| Applications | 12 | Nov 9; Nov 11 | Bipartite networks |
| Applications | 13 | Nov 16; Nov 18 | Weighted networks |
| 14 | Nov 23; Nov 25 | Fall break | |
| Presentations | 15 | Nov 30; Dec 2 | Presentations |
| Presentations | 16 | Dec 7; Dec 9 | Presentations |