Course Overview
This in-person course is designed for those who would like to gain an introductory knowledge of social network analysis (e.g. learn how to compute SNA measures) before developing understanding of the use of SNA for mixed methods research.
You will join other in-person attendees on the ‘Introduction to SNA’ course Monday - Wednesday (1st - 3rd July) before joining attendees on the ‘mixed methods in SNA’ course on the Thursday morning (4th July) for the remaining 1.5 days.
Course Aims
- Introduce the assumptions and main ideas underlying Social Network Analysis
- Explain how to describe and visualise networks using specialist software (UCINET)
- Explain and apply key concepts of Social Network Analysis (e.g. cohesion, brokerage)
- Provide hands-on training to use software to investigate social network structure
- Understand the ontological, epistemological and methodological foundations of Social Network Analysis
- Learn how to use qualitative methods to collect, analyse and interpret social network data
- Learn how to mix qualitative methods with quantiative analysis of social networks
- Critically evaluate social network studies and their methodological framework
Your Course Leads
Martin Everett is a Professor in Social Network Analysis at the University of Manchester and currently co-directs the Mitchell Centre for Social Network Analysis (with Nick Crossley). He has been a past president of the International Network for Social Network Analysis (INSNA) and is co-author of the software package UCINET and the Sage book Analyzing social networks. Martin regularly gives invited talks at major conferences and is co-editor of the journal Social Networks. He is a fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences and a Simmel award holder, the highest honour given by INSNA.
Nick Crossley is Professor of Sociology at The University of Manchester. His main work using social network analysis has focused upon music worlds, social movements and covert networks. He has also written extensively about 'relational sociology', a theoretical position that advocates a focus upon networks in sociology. His most recent book is Networks of Sound, Style and Subversion: the Punk and Post-Punk Worlds of Manchester, London, Liverpool and Sheffield, 1975-1976 (Manchester University Press).
Nikita Basov is a Senior Lecturer in Network Analysis at the University of Manchester. He has a PhD in Sociology from St. Petersburg University, 2009. From 2013 to 2022, he led Centre for German and European Studies, St. Petersburg University – Bielefeld University, supported by DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) as Head of Science/Scientific Manager. In parallel, he worked at the Faculty of Sociology of St. Petersburg University, until leaving in 2022 as Lead researcher. Nikita’s main research interest is unveiling the mechanisms of meaning creation in the interplay between social and cultural (symbolic and material) structures. He advances multidimensional socio-semantic and socio-material network analyses, with a particular focus on combining qualitative data/methods with computational natural language processing and statistical network modelling.
Tomáš Diviák is a Presidential Fellow at the Department of Criminology and the Mitchell Centre for Social Network Analysis at The University of Manchester. He obtained his Ph.D. in Sociology at Charles University (Czechia) and University of Groningen (Netherlands) with a thesis called ‘Criminal networks: actors, mechanisms, and structures’. His research focuses on social network analysis (SNA), most prominently statistical models for network data, and on analytical sociology and criminology. He is interested in the application of SNA, mainly to criminal networks, but also to political, organizational, health-related, or historical networks.
Elisa Bellotti is Senior Lecturer in Sociology and member of the Mitchell Centre for social network analysis at the University of Manchester. Dr Bellotti has published extensively on applications of social network analysis and mixed methods in sociological substantive fields, like criminal networks, scientific networks, and personal networks. Her recent work focuses on gender aspects of social network formations and outcomes, and on health networks. She has written a book on “Qualitative networks. Mixed methods in sociological research” (Routledge, 2015) and co-authored a book on “Social Network Analysis for egonets” (Sage, 2015).
Course Materials
Recommended Reading:
- Scott, J (2000) Social Network Analysis: A Handbook. Sage;
- Bellotti E., 2014, Qualitative Networks: mixed methods in sociological research, Routledge;
- Bellotti E., 2020, Mixed methods in egonet analysis, in Artem Antonyuk, Nikita Basov (eds.), Networks in the Global World V: Proceedings of NetGloW 2020, Springer, 5, 15-33.
Required Materials:
- A copy of Analyzing Social Networks by Borgatti et al. (2018), which will be used throughout the course (electronic access will be provided for the duration of the course).
- Your own laptop on which you should have downloaded the UCINET and Netdraw software packages in advance. This can be done for a free period of time from the Analytictech website.
- It is best if participants are able to use windows; Macs will need to have a PC emulator;
Course Timetable
Costs
- Full fee: £900
- Reduced/PGR fee: £600
Book Your Place
Places should be booked through the Methods@Manchester e-store by clicking the button below (payment by card only).
Bursaries
We are pleased to be able to offer a limited number of bursaries for Summer School applicants eligible for reduced fees.
The main bursary scheme is limited to PGRs from the North West Social Science Doctoral Training Partnership (NWSSDTP), but we also have a very limited number of bursaries for other applicants eligible for reduced fees who are facing exceptional circumstances.
Please see the main Summer School website (bottom of the page) for details of these bursaries and information about how to apply.
Any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us on methods@manchester.ac.uk
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