Instructor: Kenneth Frank
We will introduce Fellows to the fundamental models of social network analysis: models of how people are influenced by their network members, and how they select with whom to interact (see Frank et al., 2018; Snijders, Steglich, & Schweinberger, 2017). These can be applied, for example, to analyze how teachers are influenced by their colleagues to adopt new STEM instructional practices and how teachers decide to whom to provide instructional support related to STEM (Frank, Lo & Sun, 2014). Fellows will also be exposed to techniques for visualizing networks that embed cluster/“clique” or core/periphery boundaries into the visualizations. These can help Fellows understand systemic processes such as how innovations such as a new STEM curriculum diffuse through a district and within a school (Penuel et al., 2009). The focus will be on applying the basic models and tools to develop theory and design new studies. The design of studies will attend to issues of power (Stadtfeld et al., 2018), causal inference (Frank & Xu, 2019; Xu, 2018), multilevel structure (Frank, 2011), and network interventions (Valente, 2012). Fellows will learn to apply the formal network models to STEM case studies, and then to design a study that would include network data and anticipate many of the relevant issues (e.g., collection of longitudinal data to inform causal inferences about network effects – Frank and Xu, 2020). The more advanced module to be offered in year 2 will feature use of latent spaces and latent factors to account for dependencies in network data in models of influence (Xu, 2018) or selection (Hoff et al., 2002; Minhas et al., 2019). The course material will be presented in a mixture of didactic presentations, opportunities for reflection, group discussions, and exercises.
REFERENCES:
*Frank, K.A. and *Xu, Ran. (2020). Causal Inference for Social Network Analysis. Pages 288-310 in R. Light and J. Moody (Eds.). The Oxford Handbook of Social Networks. New York, Oxford. * Equal first authors.
Xu, R. & Frank, K.A. (forthcoming). Sensitivity Analysis for Network Observations with Applications to Inferences of Social Influence Effects. Network Science.
*Frank, K.A., *Xu, Ran, Penuel, W.P. (2018) Implementation of Evidence Based Practice in Human Service Organizations: Implications from Agent-Based Models. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management. 37(4): 4867-895. *Co-equal first authors.
Frank K.A., Lo Y., Torphy K., Kim J. (2018) Social Networks and Educational Opportunity. pp 297-316 in Schneider B. (eds) Handbook of the Sociology of Education in the 21st Century. Handbooks of Sociology and Social Research. Springer, Cham
*Field, S. *Frank, K.A., Schiller, K, Riegle-Crumb, C, and Muller, C. 2006. “Identifying Social Contexts in Affiliation Networks: Preserving the Duality of People and Events. Social Networks 28:97-123. * co first authors.
Frank, K. A. (1998). “The Social Context of Schooling: Quantitative Methods” Review of Research in Education, Vol, 23, chapter 5
Frank, K. 1996. “Mapping interactions within and between cohesive subgroups.” Social Networks 18: 93-119.
Frank. K.A. 1995. “Identifying Cohesive Subgroups.” Social Networks (17): 27-56.