Introduction to Network Analysis
This course will teach you a mix of quantitative and qualitative methods for describing, measuring, and analyzing social networks.
Overview
This course, designed for managers in organizations that have or plan to have their own social networks, teaches a mix of quantitative and qualitative methods to describe, measure and analyze a social network environment. Students learn how to identify influential individuals, track the spread of information through networks, and how to use these techniques on real problems.
- Introductory, Intermediate
- 4 Weeks
- Expert Instructor
- Tuiton-Back Guarantee
- 100% Online
- TA Support
Learning Outcomes
Students who complete this course will learn how to:
- Visualize networks of connections among entities or people
- Measure attributes of networks
- Measure attributes of users and ties among them
- Sample from networks that would be too large for analysis taken as a whole
- Generate and study hypotheses about networks
- Analyze propagation of things through networks
Who Should Take This Course
Marketing and IT managers, people who work in organizations with social media presences that they want to manage and analyze, and also people in organizations that have, or plan to have, their own social networks, who want to better understand the details of the environment they create.
Our Instructors
Dr. Jennifer Golbeck
Dr. Jennifer Golbeck is an Associate Professor in the College of Information Studies at the University of Maryland, College Park, and the former director of its Human-Computer Interaction Lab.
Her research focuses on analyzing and computing with social media. This includes building models of social relationships, particularly trust, as well as user preferences and attributes, and using the results to design and build systems that improve the way people interact with information online. She is a Research Fellow of the Web Science Research Initiative and in 2006, she was selected as one of IEEE Intelligent Systems’ Top Ten to Watch, a list of their top young AI researchers.
Course Syllabus
Week 1
Network Analysis Basics
- Basic Terminology
- Metrics
- Visualization
Week 2
The Social Network
- Tie strength
- Trust – User attributes and behavior
Week 3
Analytics
- Modeling
- Sampling
- Content Analysis
- Propagation
Week 4
Applications
- Location
- Filtering and recommender systems
- Business use
Class Dates
2025
Instructors: Dr. Jennifer Golbeck
Instructors: Dr. Jennifer Golbeck
Prerequisites
There are no prerequisites and no particular background is required. Computer scientists or those with humanities backgrounds will be equally capable of doing the work.
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Additional Information
Homework
In addition to assigned readings, this course also has supplemental video lectures and supplemental readings available online.
Course Text
The required text for this course is Analyzing the Social Web by Jennifer Golbeck.
Software
The required software is Gephi (https://gephi.org/). Windows users may also want to get NodeXL (https://www.microsoft.com/en-in/?p=nodexl). Both are free.
Options for Credit and Recognition
ACE CREDIT | College Credit
This course has been evaluated by the American Council on Education (ACE) and is recommended for the upper-division baccalaureate degree, 3 semester hours in computer science or network analysis. Please note that the decision to accept specific credit recommendations is up to the academic institution accepting the credit.
Supplemental Information
Literacy, Accessibility, and Dyslexia
At Statistics.com, we aim to provide a learning environment suitable for everyone. To help you get the most out of your learning experience, we have researched and tested several assistance tools. For students with dyslexia, colorblindness, or reading difficulties, we recommend the following web browser add-ons and extensions:
Chrome
- Color Enhancer (for colorblindness)
- HelperBird (for colorblindness, dyslexia, and reading difficulties)
Firefox
- Mobile Dyslexic
- Color Vision Simulation (native accessibility feature)
- Other native accessibility features instructions
Safari
- Navidys (for colorblindness, dyslexia, and reading difficulties)
- HelperBird for Safari (for colorblindness, dyslexia, and reading difficulties)