Online ISSR Summer Methodology Workshops | Getting Started with Social Network Analysis | Kevin L. Young

Network image - source https://www.brookings.edu/essay/women-at-the-top-of-the-world-still-not-at-the-center-a-new-network-analysis-discovery/
Monday, June 10, 2024 - 9:00am to 1:00pm
Tuesday, June 11, 2024 - 9:00am to 1:00pm
Wednesday, June 12, 2024 - 9:00am to 1:00pm
Online Event - Login credentials via email for registered participants

Description: Network analysis is increasingly used by social scientists to capture properties of complex relationships. It is both a descriptive device and an inferential tool, and is often used alongside other methods. Unlike many other quantitative techniques, the heart of network analysis presumes that actors are interconnected, rather than independent observations.

This 3-day (12-hour) intensive beginners workshop covers all the necessary elements to get started with network analysis in your own research. It will allow you to read, interpret and critique other scholars’ network analysis results, and to build up a range of specific skills and tools that can grow over time.

We will cover a wide range of topics, including:

  • How to build your own network data from scratch
  • The basic components of network analysis and its specialized language and concepts
  • How to generate interactive network visualizations for presentations and data discovery
  • Working with a variety of network measures and statistics
  • Learning how to compare networks based on their structural properties
  • Identifying and addressing problems in network data

The workshop proceeds by way of short lectures and breakout sessions involving working with real data and coding. Participants will work with a variety of network-relational datasets, provided by the workshop. We will be doing hands-on work in the R statistical environment, but no prior knowledge of R is required. A short primer on R is provided at the beginning of the workshop for those who have no prior experience in R.

Instructor: Kevin L. Young

Kevin L. Young is Professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. His work focuses on international political economy, especially the operation of interest group coalitions and elite networks. He is the author (with Thomas Hale and David Held) of Gridlock: Why Global Cooperation is Failing When it is Most Needed (Polity Press), and has published work in Review of International Political Economy, Public Administration, Regulation and Governance, Socio-Economic Review, International Studies Quarterly and Global Networks among other venues. Further information about him and his research can be found here: https://www.kevinlyoung.net/

Questions? For more information about this or any of the ISSR Summer Methodology Workshops, please contact ISSR Director of Methodology Programs Jessica Pearlman (jpearlman@issr.umass.edu).


REGISTRATION INFORMATION | 12-HOUR WORKSHOP

Important: If you are registering for more than one workshop, please verify that all workshops are in your cart with the correct institutional and career status selected, for accurate pricing.

Five College Students and Faculty

  • Five College Undergraduate and Graduate Students and Postdocs:  $150/person
  • Five College Faculty & Staff:  $270/person

Non-Five College Students and Faculty

  • Non-Five College Undergraduate and Graduate Students and Postdocs:  $300/person
  • Non-Five College Faculty, Staff & Other Professionals:  $420/person

Registration note: The Five Colleges include: UMass Amherst, Amherst College, Hampshire College, Mount Holyoke College, and Smith College. Faculty, students and staff from University of Massachusetts Boston, Dartmouth and Lowell campuses and UMass Chan Medical School pay the five college rates. Registration closes for each workshop 2 full business days prior to the start date. If paying with departmental funds, contact Sue Falcetti (sfalcetti@umass.edu).

Cancellation note: In cases where enrollment is 5 or less, we reserve the right to cancel the workshop.  In cases where the registrant cancels prior to the workshop, a full refund will be given with two weeks notice, and 50% refund will be given with one week notice.  We will not be able to refund in cases where registrant does not notify us of cancellation at least one week prior to the beginning date of the workshop.