UKY Seminar on Ego Networks | Spring 2013

Post date: Oct 19, 2012 3:19:45 PM

SOC772-001 Topical Seminar in Sociology: Egocentric Social Networks

Spring 2013, Thurs. 3:30-6:00, 1545 POT

Brea L. Perry

The field of social networks encompasses both a theoretical perspective and a set of methods. It is based on the premise that the behaviors, beliefs, attitudes, and values of individuals are shaped through contact and communication with others. An egocentric (personal) network is comprised of a set of individuals with whom a person interacts in some capacity, as defined by the researcher. The ego network could be fellow drug users, sexual partners, coworkers in an organization, or close friends and family. This perspective is unique in that it embeds individuals and their decisions, outcomes, and life chances in the larger social context of relationships, group membership, and community. A wealth of research has established that the structure of linkages between individuals, the resources shared by network members, and the ideas and information flowing through networks are critical determinants of social, psychological, and biological outcomes.

In this course, we will address theories, methods, and substantive applications of egocentric social networks. The course will provide an introduction to the history and development of social network theory, but will largely focus on contemporary problems, questions, and innovations in this field. Students will learn how to collect and analyze theoretically-grounded egocentric social network data, and will apply these skills to answer research questions pertaining to their own projects or areas of interest. The two most common multivariate methods for analyzing egocentric social network data – aggregation and multi-level (hierarchical) modeling – will be covered. Students taking this seminar should have taken a graduate-level statistics course (e.g. SOC681), and should have a basic working knowledge of the statistical software program Stata.