COMM 481: Social Networks (Fall 2006)

DESCRIPTION
Social network analysis is the study of the patterns of social relations. Network analysis examines how the structure of social relations allocates resources, constrains behavior, and channels social change. It has applications in the study of friendship, communities, social support, Internet use, organizational behavior, mental and physical health, and the diffusion of information. This seminar takes a non-mathematical approach to the study of network theories and methods. It is an introduction to the fundamental concepts of social structure, including: network size, diversity, density, centrality, multiplexity, frequency of contact, tie duration, and tie strength. The course focuses on how network structure is related to everyday life, such as health, access to social support, job attainment, and the spread of information. Particular attention is given to the role of communications media in facilitating interpersonal connectivity (face-to-face, telephone, and new media), and the role of information and communication technologies (i.e. the Internet) in social support. Students will critically examine empirical studies, formulate theories of how networks influence behavior and how behavior influence networks, and test theories through the use of network methods.

REQUIREMENTS
Seminar sessions will involve intensive discussions of assigned readings. Final grades will be based on an evaluation of 10 blog postings on the subject of the weekly course readings (30%), 20 comments on other students’ blog postings (20%), four assignments (40%), and class participation (10%). Students are urged to pay close attention to due dates, late assignments will not be accepted.

A major component of the course will involve the development and use of a personal blog. Students will receive access to the necessary blogging software and will be provided with basic instruction on how to maintain a blog. Students are not expected to have prior experience with blogs.

Course readings and participation: Students are expected to have read the week’s readings in advance of the course meeting. Class meetings will be in a seminar format and students should be prepared to participate in a discussion based on the topic and readings of the week.

Blog Postings: Students are responsible for submitting short commentaries on 10 of the weeks’ readings (300-500 words). Commentaries should focus on all of the readings from each week and should consist of limited summary; focusing on an evaluation of the readings and identifying 2-3 questions for discussion during the class meeting (focus on the papers’ key issues, strengths and limitations, and a comparison to previous weeks’ readings). Each commentary should be submitted as a post to the student’s blog by 10:00am on the Tuesday before the class meeting. To be clear, students should post commentaries to their blog on the Tuesday before the topic is discussed in class.

Blog Comments: Each student is responsible for contributing comments to fellow students’ blogs. Comments should be a minimum of 125 words and offer a critique of that week’s posting, seek clarification, compare or contrast postings, or provide additional evidence or new information (such as a link to a related article, website, etc.). Each student must contribute a minimum of 20 comments, credit will be given for a maximum of two comments each week, students cannot comment on the same blog more than three times over the duration of the course. Comments must be posted by 8:00am on the day of class for posts related to that week’s readings.

Assignments: Students are responsible for completing all four of the following assignments. The following are intended as brief outlines of each assignment, detailed instructions will be provided in class and supporting material will be posted to the course blog.

1) The Small World of the University (15%), Handout: September 21, Part 1 due: September 28, Part II in class on November 16, Part III due: November 30. Your goal is to get your folder to the target person through the shortest chain of intermediaries. Following the instructions in the assignment handout, start the chain by passing your folder to someone on the Penn campus that you have had several conversations with outside the classroom and who is more likely than you to reach the target person. Each intermediately is instructed to return a postcard describing themselves. Part I: Post a commentary to your blog (500-750 words) addressing the questions and hypotheses outlined in the assignment handout. Part II (in class): Meet with your small group and compile the results using the group handout. Part III: Post a short paper to your blog (1250-2000 words) discussing the findings of your individual project and the aggregated findings of your group, address the questions and hypotheses you formulated in Part I.

2) Important Matters (5%), Handout: September 28, Due: October 12. Listen to the radio interview featuring Prof. Lynn Smith-Lovin (Duke University) and Prof. Robert Putnam (Harvard University). Write a blog posting (500-750 words) addressing the questions in the assignment handout.

3) Email Networks (10%), Handout: October 19, Due: November 9. Track your email usage over the next week. Addressing the questions in the assignment handout, write a blog posting (1000-1500 words) discussing your findings. Bring the project handout to class, meet with your small group, combine your results using the group handout and make a short 5 minute group presentation explaining your findings.

4) Network Measures (10%), Handout: November 9, Due: December 7. Administer the “important matters” name generator, the “position generator,” and short demographic survey to 20 people. Write a blog posting (1000-1500 words) discussing the interview process and your findings. Bring the project handout and completed surveys to class, meet with your small group, combine your results using the group handout and make a short 5 minute group presentation explaining your findings.

COURSE MATERIALS
Readings, audio files, and grades will be available from the course Blackboard website: https://courseweb.library.upenn.edu/.

Handouts, information on assignments, and other announcements will be available from the course blog:
http://www.mysocialnetwork.net/blog/481

Assignment: Login to your blog and complete the setup outlined in the Blogging 101 handout. Post a test message to your blog, assign the test message to the "test" category.

Readings:

Wellman, Barry. 1999. The Network Community: an Introduction. Pp. 1-48 in Networks in the Global Village, edited by Barry Wellman. Boulder: Westview Press.

Freeman, L. C. (2000). See you in the funny papers: Cartoons and social networks. Connections, 23(1), 32-42.

Munge, Peter and Noshir Contractor. 2003. Theories of Communication Networks. Oxford: Oxford University Press (pp 29-45).

Readings:

Milgram, Stanley. (1967). The Small-World Problem. Psychology Today 1:62-67

Korte, C., & Milgram, S. (1970). Acquaintance Networks Between Racial Groups. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 15(2), 101-108.

Kilworth, Peter, Christopher McCarthy, Russell Bernard and Mark House. (2006). The Accuracy of Small World Chains in Social Networks. Social Networks 28(1): 85-96.

Gladwell, M. (1999). Six Degrees of Lois Weisberg. The New Yorker 74(41): 52-64.

Watts, Duncan. (2004). The ‘New’ Science of Networks. Annual Review of Sociology 30: 243-270.

Your assignment is to get your small university folder to the target person through the shortest chain of intermediaries. Start the chain by passing your folder to a member of the University of Pennsylvania community that you have had several conversations with outside the classroom and who is more likely than you to reach the target person. Each intermediary is instructed to return a postcard describing themselves. Write a blog post (500-700 words) answering the questions in the assignment handout. When possible, provide references from the course readings to support your answers.

Important points to remember:

• List yourself as the first person on your small university folder roster, remember to complete and mail a postcard from the folder.
  
• You cannot start the chain by giving the folder to a classmate, or to the course instructor.
  

Readings:

Granovetter, Mark. (1973). The Strength of Weak Ties. American Journal of Sociology 78(6): 1360-1380.

Burt, Ronald. (1993). The Social Structure of Competition. Pp. 65-103 in Explorations in Economic Sociology, edited by Richard Swedberg. New York: Sage.

McPherson, M., Smith-Lovin, L., & Brashears, M. E. (2006). Social Isolation in America: Changes in Core Discussion Networks over Two decades. American Sociological Review, 71, 353-375.