5th edition of the Summer Course
Theory, Methods and Applications of Social Networks.
The measurament of personal networks (2 ECTS*) 
 

Code: 2287/5 - ==> COURSE MATERIALS

4 - 8 July 2011
Computer Lab
"B5B/-131 Aula 33
"
(Facultat de Lletres-Psicologia, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona)

Registration deadline: 20th June 2011.

Presentation

The aim of this 5th edition of the summer course is to enable graduate students in the social sciences to create, compare and critique personal network research designs. On the first day, we will discuss the basic definitions and central concepts in personal network research and will briefly relate personal networks with various theoretical streams in the social sciences. This will give students an understanding of the requirements that researchers may pose to their instruments. We will then introduce the basic steps of measurement of personal networks in survey research. On the second day, we will focus on the name generators. Students will be introduced to the variety of name generators used in social sciences, which will be compared with respect to contents, the characteristics of the measured networks and ties, the reliability and validity of the measures, and respondent burden. Many empirical applications will be discussed during this session. In the third session, we will discuss the measurement of basic name interpreters, such as tie strength, roles and contexts. The fourth session is devoted to mixed method designs in personal network research. It is shown how qualitative interviews can be used as a tool to better interpret the meaning, composition and structure of personal networks. In the last session, we will discuss several complex research designs, such as longitudinal studies, community studies, and duo-centered studies. Finally an international seminar on personal networks will end the course.

Throughout this course, the students will have hands-on sessions with three computer programs developed for the computer-assisted collection of extended personal networks, with both quantitative and qualitative aspects (Egonet, E-net, and Vennmaker). Also, they will have a demonstration of the software visone for the visualization and analysis of social networks.

This summer course is intended for PhD students and researchers interested in designing their own personal network studies. We expect them to have a basic understanding of general social science methodology (e.g., questionnaire construction, concepts of validity and reliability). We also ask them to prepare a very brief presentation of their research aims (max. 5 min.), to help us understand their interests and focus their attention to specific readings. Students are strongly encouraged to do the suggested readings before taking the course. The sessions will be conducted in English. At the end of each session participants should complete a task and send it to professors.

The participants who complete the scheduled tasks will get an official recognition of credits (*).


Background.

Participants should check the contents of the following material:

McCarthy, C. & Molina, JL. Personal Network Analysis. Research and Applications [pdf].


Program

 

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

10:00- 14:00

Introduction to the course and the Observatory of Personal Networks (OPeN).

Introduction to the measurement of personal networks.

 (Miranda J. Lubbers and José Luis Molina)  

Comparison of name generators: Contents, reliability and validity, characteristics of measured networks (Miranda J. Lubbers & Lluís Coromina)

Students' brief presentations.

Name Interpreters.

Measuring relationships among alters.

 Mixing methods in personal network analysis.

Vennmaker workshop.

 Markus Gamper)

9:30 The visualization of personal networks with visone (Jürgen Lerner)

International Seminar

14:00-16:00

Lunch

 Lunch

Lunch

 Lunch

Lunch

16:00-18:30

Personal network analysis with EgoNet
(José Luis Molina)

 Facebook personal networks

(Beatriz Patraca)

E-Net (Steve Borgatti)

Lecture by Steve Borgatti at the Political Sciences and Sociology Faculty (UAB)

International Seminar

-

During the morning will be a break of 30 minutes.

Course materials are available HERE.


Professors (this list can change): José Luis Molina, Miranda J. Lubbers  (UAB) with invited participations of Steve Borgatti (Links Center, USA), Jürgen Lerner (University of Konstanz, Germany), Markus Gamper (University of Trier, Germany), and Lluís Coromina (Universitat de Girona).

Fees: 350€ in the Postgraduate School by web. Once accepted in the Summer course fill this form and send it to  ep.matricula@uab.cat. Support is available at + 34 93 581 3010 [+]

People who are interested/Applicants are required to send their vitae and a brief description of their research question or interests to gr.egoredes@uab.es 

Accommodation can be find in the same University, either as apartment  (contact in this case with ines.zamora ad uab.cat for a special rate) or in the Hotel Campus. The lunch is provided by the course. We normally have lunch together at 14:00 (a bit late for European or American usages).

The best way for getting the UAB from Barcelona is by train with the "Ferrocarils de la Generalitat de Catalunya, FGC", lines S2 and S55.  There is a stop station for the University "Universitat Autònoma". From Catalunya Square (at the Centre of Barcelona) the trip takes about 30 minutes. From the station to "Facultat de Lletres" or to the "Vil•la" (the accomodation facilities) the walk takes about 10 minutes.

There is another stop station named "Cerdanyola-Universitat" from Renfe but it is a bit far from the Campus, so we recommend strongly to take the FGC line instead.

How to get the Airport from Catalonia Square ("Plaça Catalunya") . Take the "Aerobus" shutlle, in front of El Corte Ingles (a big mall). You will note that there are two separate queues – one for the Aerobus (A1) to Terminal 1 (T1) and one for the Aerobus (A2) to Terminal 2 (T2). The trip takes about 40'. 


(*) This document is issued after request by the participants at the end of the course by the Postgraduate School, it has an extra cost of about 50€ and it takes about 10 days to be issued. All participants will receive a official certificate of attendance by the organizers.


Edition 10  [htm]

Edition 09  [htm]

Edition 08  [htm]

Edition 07 [htm]