Exponential Family Random Graph Models for Social Networks
Date and Time: Wednesday, June 26 (1-5 pm)
Room: Dogwood
Description
This workshop will provide an introduction to the practical use of exponential family random graph models (ERGMs) for the statistical analysis social networks. In addition to a basic overview of ERGMs and their uses, the workshop will provide an overview of model estimation, simulation, diagnostics, and evaluation; analysis of missing and/or sampled data will also be discussed. The workshop will be conducted via a combination of didactic lecture and hands-on exercises using the statnet suite of software tools for the R statistical computing system; R and statnet are freely available for all major computing platforms, and instructions on downloading and installing these tools will be provided prior to the workshop.
Instructor
Carter T. Butts is a professor in the Departments of Sociology and Statistics at the University of California, Irvine, where he leads the Networks, Computation, and Social Dynamics Lab (www.ncasd.org) and the UCI Center for Networks and Relational Analysis (www.relationalanalysis.org). Butts is a founding developer of the statnet project (www.statnet.org), a consortium that produces free software for the analysis of network data. Professor Butts's research interests include techniques for the measurement, modeling, and analysis of relational data, the structure of emergent and spatially embedded networks, and social dynamics.
Teaching Assistant: Lorien Jasny (UC Davis)
Required equipment/software
A laptop with R and statnet is strongly recommended; instructions for software installation will be provided to registrants.