COMM 481 –
Social Networks
Fall, 2006
Thu 1:30-4:30 (Room ASC 221)
Prof. Keith Hampton
Office Hours : Thursdays 12:00-1:30 (Room ASC
327)
TA : Oren Livio
Email : olivio@asc.upenn.edu
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 intermediary 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 (
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
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
COURSE OUTLINE
Week 1 (September 7) - Introduction and Organization
Week 2 (September 14) – What is Social Network
Analysis?
Wellman, Barry. 1999. The
Network Community: an Introduction. Pp. 1-48 in Networks in the Global Village, edited by Barry Wellman.
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.
Week 3 (September 21) – Small World
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,
Week 4 (September 28) – Tie Strength.
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.
McPherson, M., Smith-Lovin, L., & Brashears, M. E.
(2006). Social Isolation in
Week 5
(October 5) – Community
Bott,
Fischer, Claude. (1982). To Dwell Among Friends.
Wellman, Barry, and Scot Wortley. (1990). Different
Strokes From Different Folks: Community Ties and Social Support. American Journal of Sociology 96(3):558-88.
Kalmijn, M. (2003).
Shared friendship networks and the life course. Social Networks, 25,
231-249.
Week 6 (October 12) – Network Size and Homophily.
McPherson, Miller,
Pearson, M., Steglich,
C., & Snijders, T. (2006). Homophily and assimilation among sport-active
adolescent substance users. Connections, 27(1), 47-63.
Hill, R. A., &
Dunbar, R. I. M. (2003). Social Network Size in Humans. Human Nature, 14(1),
53-72.
Killworth, Peter, Eugene
Johnsen, H Russell Bernard, Gene Ann Shelley, and Christopher McCarthy. 1990.
Estimating the Size of Personal Networks. Social
Networks 12: 289-312.
Week 7 (October 19) – Popularity, Centrality and Prestige
Wasserman, S., & Faust, K. (1994). Chapter 6:
Centrality and prestige. In Social
Network Analysis: Methods and Applications.
Freeman, Linton. 1979. Centrality in Social Networks:
Conceptual Clarification. Social Networks
1: 215-39.
Krebs, V. (2002).
Uncloaking Terrorist Networks. First Monday, 7(4).
Valente, T., Unger,
J., & Johnson, A. (2005). Do popular students smoke? The association
between popularity and smoking among middle school students. Journal of
Adolescent Health, 37, 323-329.
Mouttapa, M., Valente,
T., Gallaher, P., Rohrback, L. A., & Unger, J. B. (2004). Social Network
Predictors of Bullying and Victimization. Adolescence, 39(154), 315-335.
Week 8 (October 26) – Measurement
Zwijze-Koning, K.,
& Jong, M. D. T. d. (2005). Auditing Information Structures in Organizations.
Organizational Research methods, 8(4), 429-453.
Marin, Alexandra & Keith Hampton (forthcoming).
Simplifying the Personal Network Name Generator: Alternatives to Traditional
Multiple and Single Name Generators. Field
Methods.
Lin,
van der Gaag, Martin and Tom .A.B. Snijders. (2005).
The Resource Generator: Social Capital Quantification with Concrete Items. Social Networks 27(1): 1-29.
Week 9
(November 2) – Computer Networks as Social Networks I.
Kronholz , June (2003, February 13). After the Science
Fair: Dear World, Please Stop Writing Me: A Girl's E-Mail Experiment Clogs
In-Box for Weeks. The Wall Street Journal:
A1.
Kleinberg, J., &
Lawrence, S. (2001). The Structure of the Web. Science, 294.
Park, H. W. (2003).
Hyperlink Network Analysis: A New Method for the Study of Social Structure on
the Web Connections, 25(1), 49-61.
Adamic, L. A., &
Adar, E. (2003). Friends and Neighbors on the Web. Social Networks, 25,
211-230.
Ellison, N.,
Steinfield, C., & Lampe, C. (2006). Spatially Bounded Online Social
Networks and Social Capital: The Role of Facebook, Annual Conference of the
International Communication Association.
Week 10 (November 9) – Computer Networks as Social
Networks II.
Hampton, Keith and Barry Wellman. (2003). Neighboring
in Netville: How the Internet Supports Community and Social Capital in a Wired
Suburb. City and Community 2(4),
277-311.
Hampton, Keith (forthcoming). E-Neighbors:
Neighborhood Networks in the
Wellman, Barry (2001). Physical Place and
Week 11 (November 16) – Search Process and Information Flow
Tepperman, Lorne. (1975). Deviance as a Search
Process. Canadian Journal of Sociology 1
(3): 277-294.
Rogers,
Valente, Thomas. (1995).
Network Models of the Diffusion of
Innovations.
Week 12
(November 23) (holiday – no class)
Week 13 (November 30) – Health
Cohen, S., Brissette,
Dickens, C.M., L. McGowen, C. Percival, J. Douglas, B.
Tomensen, L. Cotter, A Heagerty, and F.H. Creed. (2004). Lack of Close
Confidant, but not Depression, Predicts Further Cardiac Events After Myocardial
Infraction. Heart 90(5): 518-522.
Bearman, P. S., Moody,
J., & Stovel, K. (2004). Chains of Affection: The Structure of Adolescent
Romantic and Sexual Networks. American Journal of Sociology, 110(1),
44-91.
Week 14 (December 7) – Social Inequality
Fernandez, Roberto and David Harris. (1992). Social
Isolation and the Underclass. Pp. 257-293 in
Drugs, Crime, and Social Isolation, edited by Adele Harrell and George
Peterson: The Urban Institute.
Marsden, Peter, and Jeanne Hurlbert. (1988). Social
Resources and Mobility Outcomes. Social
Forces 66:1038-1059.