AQM: An Introduction to Social Network Analysis using R

Advanced Quantitative Methods (AQM) training

Social network analysis (SNA) does not just refer to social networking media such as Twitter or Facebook. In more general terms, it is concerned with understanding the pattern of how individuals (or companies or countries or other units of interest) interact. In stark comparison with traditional statistical methods which require independence, the SNA main object of interest is dependence and how to view it, explain it, model it, etc. This course will cover data entry, summaries and plotting of network data in R using a number of different R packages as well as some basic models. Students will get the chance to apply basic SNA methods to data on their own.

These methods will be introduced in general and then students will be given the chance to learn how to apply them to data in R using a variety of commands and packages. If there is time, we may discuss some basic item response theory models as well.

Course Leader: Nema Dean

Nema graduated from the Department of Mathematics in Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, with a BA (Hons) and Gold Medal in Mathematics in 2002. In summer 2006 she received her PhD. in Statistics from the Department of Statistics in the University of Washington, Seattle, USA. Nema currently lectures in the Department of Statistics in the University of Glasgow.