SOCI3106
Social Network Analysis
Offer semester
Lecture time
Lecture venue
Credits awarded
2nd semester
Thursday
13:00-14:50
CPD-LG.09
6
Social network analysis is one of sociology’s most influential theoretical and methodological contributions. Rather than treating individuals as isolated units, it examines patterns of relationships as the foundation of social life. This course introduces network analysis as both a theoretical perspective and a set of analytical tools. We cover core concepts—such as centrality, clustering, weak ties, brokerage, homophily, and diffusion—and apply them to substantive questions including inequality, information spread, and collective action.The course combines conceptual discussion with hands-on training in analyzing network data. Through practical assignments, students learn to visualize networks, compute structural measures, and interpret relational patterns. A final project allows students to apply network methods to an empirical case of their choice.
Reflect critically on core sociological theories and concepts as part of the basis to build a life-long capacity in critical thinking.
View the world through the lens of networks and appreciate the extent to which political actors are a product of their position in the social world.
Transpose the analytical tools introduced in class to new empirical contexts.
Develop and answer a small research question applying the theories and methodologies from the course. This includes becoming familiar with programs for network analysis such as R or Gephi.
Tasks
Weighting
Homework assignments
20%
Final project
60%
Classroom participation
10%
Tutorial participation
10%
Kadushin, Charles. 2012. Understanding Social Networks: Theories, Concepts, and Findings. New York: Oxford University Press.
Borgatti, Stephen P., Ajay Mehra, Daniel J. Brass, and Giuseppe Labianca. 2009. “Network Analysis in the Social Sciences.” Science 323(5916): 892-895.
Granovetter, Mark S. 1973. “The Strength of Weak Ties.” American Journal of Sociology 78(6): 1360-1380.
Burt, Ronald S. 1997. “The Contingent Value of Social Capital.” Administrative Science Quarterly 42(2):339-365.
McPherson, Miller, Lynn Smith-Lovin, and James M. Cook. 2001. ‘‘Birds of a Feather: Homophily in Social Networks.’’ Annual Review of Sociology 27: 415-44.
Putnam, Robert D. 1995. “Bowling Alone: America’s Declining Social Capital.”
Edelmann, Achim, Tom Wolff, Danielle Montagne, and Christopher A. Bail. 2020. “Computational Social Science and Sociology.” Annual Review of Sociology 46:61-81.
Borgatti, Stephen, and Travis Grosser. 2015. “Structural Equivalence: Meaning and Measures.” In International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences (Second Edition).
Bond, Robert M. et al. 2012. “A 61-million-person experiment in social influence and political mobilization.” Nature 489: 295-298.
Andrews, Kenneth T. and Michael Biggs. 2006. “The Dynamics of Protest Diffusion: Movement Organizations, Social Networks, and News Media in the 1960 Sit-Ins.” American Sociological Review 71(5): 752-777.
Krinsky, John and Nick Crossley. 2014. “Social Movements and Social Networks: Introduction.” Social Movement Studies 13(1): 1-21.
Heaney, Michael T. and Fabio Rojas. 2014. “Hybrid Activism: Social Movement Mobilization in a Multimovement Environment.” American Journal of Sociology 119(4): 1047–1103.
Larson, Jennifer M., Jonathan Nagler, Jonathan Ronen, and Joshua A. Tucker. 2019.“Social Networks and Protest Participation: Evidence from 130 Million Twitter Users.” American Journal of Political Science 63(3): 509-718.
Padgett, John F. and Christopher K. Ansell. 1993. “Robust Action and the Rise of the Medici, 1400-1434.” American Journal of Sociology 98(6): 1259-1319.
Shi, Feng, Yongren Shi, Fedor A. Dokshin, James A. Evans, and Michael W. Macy. 2017. “Millions of online book co-purchases reveal partisan differences in the consumption of science.” Nature Human Behavior 1, 0079.
Hoffman, Mark A. 2019. “The Materiality of Ideology: Cultural Consumption and Political Thought after the American Revolution.” American Journal of Sociology 125(1): 1-62.
Offer Semester | Lecture Day | Lecture Time | Venue | Credits awarded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
2nd semester | Thursday | 13:00-14:50 | CPD-LG.09 | 6 |
