Social science data are inherently network data. Individuals are embedded within networks of friendships and professional relations; administrative units influence and are influenced by the nearby units; countries are nested within complex alliance and trade networks.
The course will introduce the inferential tools for analyzing such data, including the Exponential Random Graph models (ERGMS), actor-oriented model of network dynamics (SIENA), Latent Space Models (LSMs), and Local Structure Graph Models (LSGMs). For each model, we will work through the mathematical and theoretical foundations, discuss published social science applications of them, and utilize the models on example datasets.