Note to self:

Be sure to sign students up for reading assignments the week before they are due
 Sociology 111
Social Networks
Fall 2009

Rick Grannis
grannis@soc.ucla.edu

Course Description

“It’s not what you know, it’s who you know!” What differentiates social network analysis from
all other social science research is its focus on the relationships between social actors, not the
attributes of social actors. This perspective has yielded many valuable insights concerning how
we understand society, the nature of community, social roles, social influence, as well as how we
search networks for information and resources. Furthermore, many network interventions have
nonlinear or asymmetrical results. This class will introduce you to this perspective on the social
world and give you hands-on experiences in applying it. This course will also survey cutting-
edge research on complexity and emergence in networks which has literally exploded upon the
scientific landscape and which is sure to have an enormous lasting impact.

Required Texts

Articles posted on the course web site.

Grading

80 % Eight Projects throughout the Quarter (10 % each): You will be graded on how well
your project demonstrates your mastery and application of the concepts and how well it
incorporates key ideas and concepts from the class readings and lectures.

10 % Final Project: Networks in the Workplace: This final project should integrate concepts
and applications from class readings, lectures, and projects throughout the quarter.

Note: If your final project receives a better grade than one of your mid-quarter projects, I will
drop that score and double your final project grade.

10 % Expert Discussion: Once during the quarter, I will assign you to be responsible for
having studied one of the assigned articles sufficiently to engage in expert discussion. You will
not only be responsible to discuss the basic concepts of each article but also to initiate discussion
as to how these concepts might be used to understand social phenomena. Two or three students
will be assigned to each article and may, if they so desire, coordinate their efforts. Don’t panic if
you don’t do one early on, the majority of readings occur in the last month of class.

A Note about Group Projects: Most of the projects for this class are completed by groups of
three and your grade will depend on your fellow classmates. This is intentional! The projects
require not only that you have the ability to produce high quality work but that you enlist the
collective talents, skills, and intellect to assist you. Learn to do this.
Regrades: All grading issues must be dealt with within one week of being returned. It is YOUR
responsibility to make sure that you received credit for all group projects.

Incompletes: I do not give incompletes!

NOTE: I will NOT be adding!!!

 PROJECT 1

TAKING STOCK OF SOME OF YOUR RELATIONS

To answer the following questions, feel free to use initials or any other cryptic code of your
choice
• Who do you share meals with?
• Who do you study with?
• Who do you party with?
• Who do you go to clubs, church, etc. with?
• Who do you hang out with?
• Who do you discuss important matters with?
• Whose residence do you visit?
• Who do you ask favors of?
• Who do you turn to for money?
• Who are your friends?
• Who are you close with?
• Who has influence with you?
• Who else should be on this list?
• If you don’t have at least 50 people, try again.

For each person you listed …

• Rate your relationship with them on a scale from 1 to 5.
• Guesstimate, how they would rate their relationship with you on a scale from 1 to 5.

Looking at the ratings you just made (and not changing them), do you think the scores you chose
primarily reflected:
• … personal similarity?
• … time you have known them?
• … intimacy?
• … trust?
• … respect?
• … something else (give it a name)?

Origin
• How do you know them?
• Are they family?
• … a roommate?
• ... in the same major?
• … the same year in school?
• Do you belong to the same club?
• … something else (again, give it a name)?
 • PROJECT 1
•
• (CONTINUED)
•
•
•
Homophily
• Are they the same gender as you?
• How close are they to you in age?
• Are they the same ethnicity as you?
• Are they the same religion as you?
• What other categories are relevant?

Context
• Is your primary interaction:
• Face-to-face?
• By phone?
• By e-mail?
• By snail mail?
• By some other means (again, give it a name)?

You will turn in Ten Columns

• 1: A list of initials or other identifiers for people you know
• 2: A rating of your relationship to them (1 to 5)
• 3: A rating of their relationship to you (1 to 5)
• 4: Why you rated those you knew as strong or weak (e.g. personal similarity, time you
have known them, intimacy, trust, respect, etc.).
• 5: How you know them (e.g. family, roommate, same major, same year in school, same
club, etc.)
• 6: Same gender (Y-N)?
• 7: Same ethnicity (Y-N)?
• 8: Same religion (Y-N)?
• 9: Difference in age
• 10: Context of your primary interaction (e.g. face-to-face, by phone, by e-mail, by snail
mail, etc.)
 • PROJECT 1
•
• (CONTINUED)
•
•
•
For each person you listed, with every other person you listed …
• Is their relationship (between your two alters) …
• Stronger than either of them are to you?
• Weaker than either of them are to you?
• About the same as both of them are to you?
• One is stronger (or weaker) and the other is different (either stronger, weaker, or about
the same)?
• Nonexistent?

You will turn in a Matrix

• Make a person by person square matrix:
• In each cell (except the diagonal), write: strong, weak, or nonexistant to identify whether
the relationship between your two alters is strong, weak, or nonexistant (you can use S,
W, N)
• For example, if the second person has a strong relationship with the first person, a weak
relationship with the third person, and no relationship with the fourth person, in the
second row, the first column would have an S, the third column would have a W, and the
fourth column would have an N.
 PROJECT 2

COMPARING EGO NETWORKS

You will form groups of three.

For each person’s ego network, report the:

 number of individuals in the ego network
 density of the ego network
 clustering coefficient
 average geodesic distance among individuals
 proportion of individuals in the largest component
 proportion of individuals in the largest bi-component
 value of their deepest k-component
 closeness centralization
Then, recalculate all of the previous measures, excluding ego in each case.

Provide two diagrams of each person’s ego network, one with them included and one without
them included.

Answer the following questions about the ego networks:

• How are all three ego networks similar?
• What is distinctive about each ego network?
• How does each person’s ego network change when they remove themselves?

Think about and answer the following questions:

• What does it mean for one persons’ ego network to have more actors than another?
• What does it mean for one persons’ ego network to be denser than another?
• What does it mean for one persons’ ego network to have generally shorter paths than
another?
• What does it mean for one persons’ ego network to have a greater clustering coefficient
that another?
• What does it mean when more of one person’ ego network is in a single component? …
bi-component? What does it mean when a person has a higher value of K for their K-
component?
• What does it mean for one persons’ ego network to be more centralized than another?
• How is being closeness centralized different from having generally short path lengths?
• When would you want to symmetrize your data? When would this not be a good idea?
• When would you want to dichotomize your data? When would this not be a good idea?
 PROJECT 3

CENTRALITY AND CENTRALIZATION

Centrality Index

I want you to create an index or measurement tool to determine the centrality of any network.

Your centrality measure must be able to determine the centrality of every node in any sample
network I provide.

Begin with the examples below and determine the centrality value of each node in the examples
below. Thus, for each of the four distinct five-node networks (the line, the circle, the star, and
the kite), generate a centrality score for each of their nodes (20 scores in all), then for the four
distinct ten-node networks (the line, the circle, the star, and the kite), generate a centrality score
for each of their nodes (40 scores in all).

Explain the criteria, algorithm, etc. you used to generate those scores clearly enough that I could
hand it to another group and they could reproduce your scores using the same data (I will do
this).

Explain why your index tells us something meaningful about how central a particular node is in
its own network.

Five person networks:

Ten person networks:

 PROJECT 3 (CONTINUED)

Centralization

Using your “centrality” formula, what is the maximum possible value any node could get
(imagine the most centralized network ever, what would the maximum centrality score be)?
Using your “centrality” formula, what is the minimum possible value any node could get
(imagine the least centralized network ever, what would the minimum centrality score be)?

Of the five-node examples above, which is most centralized? Least centralized? Rank them
from most to least and explain why. Of the ten-node examples above, which is most centralized?
Least centralized? Rank them from most to least and explain why. Again, your explanation
should be clear enough that I could hand it to another group and they could reproduce your
scores using the same data.

Below are two networks each with seven actors and nine relations. How centralized are each of
these networks?
 PROJECT 4

WORKGROUP ANALYSIS

In the Excel spreadsheet you have nine columns of data.

• The group ID is in the first column. There are three groups (A, B, and C).
• The second column lists the ID number of individuals within the workgroup. Note that
ID numbers only make sense within each workgroup. Also note that, while all
individuals in a workgroup were numbered, some did not respond to the survey and
therefore their numbers are missing in this column.
• The third through eighth columns list the number of the individual nominated as the best,
second best, third best, fourth best, and fifth best friend, respectively, within that
workgroup by the person represented by the row. Note that, in all cases, a zero means
that the person didn’t choose a best friend. There is no person 0.
• The eighth column is an indicator variable as to whether the individual is female. A “1”
means the person is female. A “0” means the person is male. If they didn’t answer the
survey, we don’t know if they are male or female.
• The ninth column is an indicator variable as to whether the individual is nonwhite. A “1”
means the person is nonwhite. A “0” means the person is white. Again, if they didn’t
answer the survey, we don’t know if they are white or nonwhite.

For each group, draw a network graph using all five friendship choices. Report the proportions
of individuals in the largest component and bi-component, the average geodesic distance, and the
betweenness centralization. Repeat this procedure (the graph and the statistics) using only the
top four friendship choices. Repeat this procedure (the graph and the statistics) again only the
top three friendship choices, … the top two friendship choices, and … best friends.

Calculate the betweenness centralization and the proportion of individuals who are isolates or
pendants for non-whites in each group. Repeat these calculations for whites, … for females, and
… for males.

Answer the following questions:

 Using both what you learn from the diagrams and the statistics, what is similar about the
social structure of the three groups? What is different about the social structure of the
three groups?
 What information is readily apparent in the diagrams?
 What information is difficult to perceive using only the diagrams?
 How does your perception of each group change as you include more or fewer friends?
 PROJECT 5

THE SMALL WORLD

Overview
The general purpose of this study is to explore one aspect of the social network in which we are
all embedded. The specific purpose is to explore how undergraduates in this class would contact
a particular graduate student. Some questions of interest might include:

Hypotheses
I want your group to generate specific hypotheses. Below are some questions to start, but not
complete, your thinking.
 What is the probability that any particular chain will reach the target?
 For those that do reach their target, about how many steps will it take?
 What will characterize successful students? For example, would more advanced students
(e.g. seniors) be more likely to contact the graduate student than less advanced students?
Will other factors such as ethnicity or gender be important?
 What will characterize successful first choices of who to send it to?

Mechanics
To investigate how undergraduates in this class are connected to the rest of the university, we
will trace how e-mail is forwarded to reach a target individual. _____, a sociology graduate
student, has agreed to serve as the target person in this study. The goal of this study is to
transmit this e-mail to _____ using only a chain of friends and acquaintances.

You will send the e-mail (the actual e-mail you will use is attached below) to someone you know
personally who is most likely to know _____

If that person already knows _____ personally, they can forward the e-mail directly to him. If
they do not, the e-mail asks them to forward it (along with all headers) to someone they know
personally who is more likely than they are to know _____, and so on.

The e-mail also asks them to e-mail you and tell you whom they sent the e-mail to, why they
chose that person (i.e. why they believe that person is more likely than they are to know _____)
and why they believe the person who forwarded the e-mail to them thought you would be closer
to _____.

In the end, _____ will send back all e-mails that reach him. Between the headers of these e-
mails as well as the responses you receive back from your forwarded e-mails, we will try to
reconstruct a portion of our collective social network.
If a person at any step in this chain does not respond to you relatively quickly, you need to
follow up with them.
 PROJECT 5

(CONTINUED)

Important!

We have defined someone you know personally as someone whom would recognize you,
someone whom you have had several conversations with, and/ or someone whose e-mail address
you already know, etc. Please be sure that this person knows you!!! Several professors have in
the past have received e-mails from students they do not know and have been upset by this. If I
get yelled at, this can’t be good for your grade.

Note about the e-mail.

The word “student” appears twice in the e-mail and the phrase “student’s e-mail address”
appears once. All three instances are in bold. You need to replace the word “student” with your
name and “student’s e-mail address” with your e-mail address. Be sure to do this before you
send out the e-mail.
 PROJECT 5

(CONTINUED)

The E-Mail

Dear Fellow University Member,

How are you connected to the rest of the university? How could you reach someone that you don't know
personally? We are interested in these questions and need your help in a study we are doing on social networks
at the university. The object of the study is to trace how this e-mail is forwarded to reach a target individual. We
hope that you can help us out. It is really simple to participate and won't take a lot of your time.

You have received this e-mail from a friend or an acquaintance. If the person who sent this to you is not a
friend or an acquaintance, please disregard this message and we apologize for the inconvenience.

All we ask is that you follow the instructions at the bottom and forward it to someone who is more likely than
you to reach the target individual.

_____, a sociology graduate student, has agreed to serve as the target person in this study. The goal of this
study is to transmit this e-mail to _____ using only a chain of friends and acquaintances.

If you would be willing to participate, here is what you do:

If you already know _____ personally (Would he recognize you? Have you had several conversations with
him? Do you already know or have his e-mail address?), forward this e-mail directly to him.

If you do not know _____, do not try to contact him directly! Instead, forward this e-mail to someone you
know personally who is more likely than you to know _____.

For this study, someone you know personally means they would know you as well and agree that they know
you personally.

Please forward the entire e-mail, including all the previous headers, so that we can keep a record of its progress.

Once you have forwarded the e-mail, please e-mail Student at Student’s e-mail address and tell me the
following information:
 who you forwarded the e-mail to
 why you chose to forward the e-mail to the person that you did (i.e. why you believe this person is more
likely than you are to know _____)
 why you believe the person who forwarded the e-mail to you thought you would be closer to ______.

If you have any questions, please e-mail Professor Rick Grannis at grannis@soc.ucla.edu. Thanks for helping us
learn more about how the university is "connected"!

Sincerely,

Student
 PROJECT 6

NETWORKS IN THE WORKPLACE

It’s January, 2010. You’ve been working at your new job for several months.

Your boss comes to your cubicle and says: “I’ve heard you took a class about social networks.
There’s a lot of buzz about social networks going around but none of us here know much
about it. I think a great way to start off the new year would be for you to do a 20 to 30
minute presentation for the senior staff next week. Tell us about social networks. What
is it all about; what does it have to offer and what can it do for us?”

As soon as your boss leaves, your colleagues become animated.

The person sitting in the cubicle behind you wheels their chair back and warns you to be careful.
They’ve worked for your boss for a lot longer than you have and know that (s) he is
expecting more than a single idea. Your boss expects a pretty comprehensive analysis of
social networks and how understanding social networks can help your firm.

The person sitting in the cubicle to your right now pops their head in and tells you that, despite
your boss’ naïve self presentation, (s) he has read all of the popular press literature on
social networks and expects something more from you, something you could only get
from taking a class at a University.

The person to your left warns you that your boss has a habit of dropping by after a presentation,
especially and grilling you about why you included each slide that you did so you’d
better have a justification for each one. In fact, it should be written out. Your boss likes
it when you look prepared.

By now, pretty much everyone you’ve met at the new workplace has clustered around your
cubicle.

One of them adds that your boss likes it when people include relevant references so that if your
boss thinks an idea interesting can read more about it. Your boss wants to sound smart.

Another cuts in and reminds you that these need to be directly on point. Your boss will get really
annoyed if you make them read something that doesn’t relate to what you said.

Still another says that your boss, like everyone else, is a visual person. It wouldn’t hurt to
include a few pictures.

Finally, another colleague who came when they saw a group forming around you reminds you
that the meeting includes your boss’ bosses. They don’t want to be bored so you better
keep it interesting!

Welcome to your new job!