1 Mechanics

Introduction to Social Network Analysis

Dr. Maksim Tsvetovat(call me Max)

Course Mechanics

• Meeting times:– Tuesday, 4:30-7:10pm– Innovation Hall 333

• Office Hours– Tuesday before class

• Research 1 - Room 381

– Immediately after class• Jazzman’s Coffee Shop

What is Network Analysis

• Quantitative study of relationships• Nodes =

– People– Organizations– Computers – Etc.

• Edges = relationships

Networks vs. Trad. Methods

• Traditional methods study individuals in terms of variables– Lose the context behind individuals

• Network methods study entire groups – “Lose trees for the forest”

• Combined approaches might be best

Link Analysis

• Distant cousins• Link analysis = qualitative• Network analysis = quantitative

Link Analysis

Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies

Flickr

History of Science

The Story of ACME

Jim (AG) Dave (AG)

Alice (AG Head)

Auditing Group

Samuel Brad

Cindy (IT Head)

IT Group

Angie (Sec.) Frida (Sec.) Mary (Sec.)

Secretarial Pool

Conrad (CEO)

• ACME Consulting is an accounting consulting firm with 25 years in the business.– Audits books and builds accounting/financial systems– Added the IT group 5 years ago

• Was led by owner for 23 years• Owner retired, hires outside CEO

ACME Corp• A functional,mechanistic organization

– Structured by departments– Each department has a core competency– Each project involves more then one department

• Problems:– Resources far removed from the client– Problem resolution takes too long– IT analysts and auditors are constantly bickering

and jockeying for resources

What to do?• Hire a consultant!

Restructuring ACME

ACME Consulting

Mary (Sec.)

Jim (AG) Brad (IT) Angie (Sec.)

Alice (Engagement Mgr)

Dave (AG) Samuel(IT) Frida (Sec.)

Cindy (Engagement Mgr)

Conrad (CEO)

After Restructuring

• Semi-independent project teams• All project resources available on client site• Engagement Managers deal with one

customer only and respond faster to customer concerns

• Efficiency in routine tasks is up• Small problems resolved quickly and

without going up the chain of command• Auditors and IT people finally talk to each

other

But something is wrong…

• Amount of mistakes and rework rises dramatically– Team leaders do more firefighting then

actual work– Major mistake almost lands ACME on

front page of WSJ, next to Enron

What to do…• Hire another consultant!

Gauging the Informal Network Structure

• Who trusts whom?• Who goes to whom for advice?• Who goes out for a beer together

after work?

Formal Network

Informal Network

Informal Networks Matter

• Common wisdom - when you need things done, talk to the secretary

• Crucial knowledge needs to cross organizational boundaries

• Informal networks form whether you like it or not.

• Severing strong informal ties is harmful

Power of Network Analysis in Organizations

• Find out who’s REALLY in charge– Frequently, managers don’t know who their real

assets and liabilities are– Find and reward trusted employees

• Locate and manage divisive issues– Competing cliques– Rumour mills

• Manage information flow– Find bottlenecks– Help grass-roots initiatives grow

Ethics and Social Networks

• Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle– Observation of a subject changes the

behaviour of the subject

• Results of the study will influence promotion and downsizing– Study participants have an incentive to

manipulate your perception

• Covert surveillance is questionable (at the very least)

Course Agenda• Crash course - the basics

– What are social networks and how to analyze them as graphs

• Centrality and power • Cliques & Cohesive Subgroups• Structurally Equivalent Roles• Block modeling• Network Statistics• Structural Holes• Weak Ties, Strong Ties

Couse Agenda - Pracicalities

• Data acquisition– Survey instruments and web spiders

• Network Text analysis – (guest lecture)

• Visualization• Dealing with Network Data

Course Agenda - Applications

• Six Degrees of Separation or Three degrees of Bacon• Social Networks in Management• Sex, STD and Contagion Networks• Criminal Networks

– Drug use networks– Gangs and Organized Crime

• Networks in Politics– Political contributions; issue networks– International treaties and agreements

• Terrorist Networks• Interlocking directorates• Protein Interactions• Inter-state relations

Extensions of Social Networks

• Dynamic Networks– Contagion theories

Information diffusion

• Complex network data– PCANS/MetaMatrix– Semantic networks

• Social Simulation and Dynamic Networks• From natural to artificial networks

Assignments

• Blog postings– Each person blogs for 1 week– Post as much as you can– Blog posts should be short (3 paragraphs tops)– Critical evaluation/discussion– Air out ideas, doubts, questions, weird problems,

make fun of things…– Graded 0-5.

• Almost any post will pass• With exception of off-topics, flames, trolls and

other nasty critters.

Homeworks

• Homework 1 - Mechanics– Make sure you can operate the software

and do basic analysis– Will analyze a well-known dataset

• Homework 2 - Advanced Analysis– In-depth analysis of a well-known

dataset.– Your choice of software

Course Project

• A full-blown social network study– From data collection to final write-up

• Done in phases:– Project Proposal– Checkpoint– Draft– Final Paper– Mini-conference

Let’s Dive In!High school dating

Fresh Water Food Webs

Interdisciplinary Collaborations

Web site

Sexual Networks

IRC Channel

Physicist Collaborations

Les Miserables

Internet

Contagion of TB

Network Art

Yeast Proteins

Book on Politics

Karate Club