COMM3342 Fall 2011

Cuihua Shen

COMM3342: Issues in CommunicationSocial Networks: Theories and Applications Fall 2011 [Draft as of August 24, 2011 - Subject to Revisions] Course Information Instructor: Class location: Time: E-mail: Office Location: Office Hours: Course Website: Cuihua (Cindy) Shen, Ph.D. CB3 1.306 Monday 4:00 - 6:45pm cuihua.shen@utdallas.edu ATEC 1.610 M 3:00-3:45pm & by appointment http://elearning.utdallas.edu

All course-related information will be posted on the course website. Students may contact me via email or in-person. Please begin your email subject heading with COMM3342 to ensure my prompt attention. I try to respond to student emails within 24 hours Monday through Friday. Important course-related information such as announcements and reminders will be primarily communicated to students via email. Course readings, assignments and updated course schedule will be posted on the eLearning website. Students are encouraged to check eLearning at least once a week. (eLearning tutorial: http://www.utdallas.edu/oee/distance/resources/handouts/webct_tutorials.html).

Course Description This course introduces the theoretical perspectives and practical applications of the study of social networks, which include (but are not limited to) friendship networks, political discussion networks, social support networks, organizational networks, disease transmission networks, and online social networks such as Facebook and Twitter. Students will have the opportunity to learn the basic network concepts and measures, such as network size, diversity, density, centrality, homophily, and tie strength. The emphasis of the course will be placed on the impact of emerging media and communication technologies on the creation, maintenance, and expansion of social networks. Although this course takes a non-mathematical approach, students will also be introduced to computer programs for computing and visualizing social networks, such as NodeXL, UCINET and NETDRAW. Learning objectives: Become familiar with the fundamental concepts and theories of social networks. Understand the basic social network analysis methods and techniques.

COMM3342 Fall 2011

Cuihua Shen

Learn to apply social network concepts to the design, analysis and evaluation of various social media applications. Required Texts Christakis, N. A., & Fowler, J. H. (2011). Connected: The surprising power of our social networks and how they shape our lives (reprint ed.). New York: Back Bay Books. o Available at: Off Campus Books (http://www.offcampusbooks.com) 561 W. Campbell Road, #201 Richardson, TX 75080 972-907-8398 Hanneman, R., & Riddle, M. (2005). Introduction to Social Network Methods. Available at no cost on the web at http://faculty.ucr.edu/~hanneman/nettext/. In addition, various course readings will be posted to eLearning. Course Requirements Attendance and Participation (25%) Class sessions will involve intensive discussions of assigned readings as well as individual and group activities. Therefore, participation and active discussion are essential for the success of this class. I expect you to come to every class prepared and ready to discuss critically about the readings. Try to connect the concepts and studies we cover in class with everyday lifehow social networks function in your academic, professional and personal spheres. Be prepared to defend your position with examples, statistics and scientific studies. To earn the full score, you must participate in every session. Come to class prepared to discuss and ask questions about the material. Asking a question or contributing to the discussion counts as participation. Keeping silent does not. If you participate in about half of the sessions, you earn 50%. My general impression across the semester may modify that score. You are allowed one unexcused absence from the class without penalty. Thereafter, each unexcused absence costs 1% of the total grade. Having four unexcused absences costs 4% of the final score (i.e., a 90% drops to 86%). Absences beyond the fourth open the possibility that you may fail the course. Arriving past five minutes to class is considered poor form, and will incur a penalty (half that of absences). Online Commentaries (20%)

COMM3342 Fall 2011

Cuihua Shen

Students are responsible for submitting short commentaries on 10 weeks readings (200 500words). Commentaries should focus on all of the readings from each week and should consist of limited summary; focusing on an evaluation of the readings and identifying 2-3 questions for discussion during the class meeting (focus on the papers key issues, strengths and limitations, and a comparison to previous weeks readings). Each commentary should be submitted as a message to the designated topic at the eLearning discussion forum by 11:59pm on the Saturday before the class meeting. Each student is also responsible for contributing comments to fellow students postings. Comments should be a minimum of 100 words and offer a critique of that weeks posting, seek clarification, compare or contrast postings, or provide additional evidence or new information (such as a link to a related article, website, etc.). Each student must contribute a minimum of 20 comments, credit will be given for a maximum of two comments each week. Comments must be posted by 8:00am on the day of class for posts related to that weeks readings. In sum, to get full score for online commentaries (20% of total score), students are required to post commentaries to eLearning on the Saturday before the topic is discussed in class (10 posts minimum), and to comment on other students postings by 8am on the day of class (20 comments minimum). Exams (30%) There will be 2 exams for this course, and they generally hold the following format: 8 to 15 multiple choice questions; 5 to 8 fill in the blanks or short answer questions; The latter examinations may be cumulative in part. Team Project (25%) The team project will be a substantive original piece of literature review, analytic research, case study or a proposal of a new social media application that engages the content covered in class. I encourage you to develop a project that is relevant to your area of interest; to this extent I am quite flexible in the types or formats of projects Ill approve. As (online) social networks pose interesting questions to industry, the academy and society at large, there are many opportunities for you to develop a project that is relevant to your interests. Examples of the final project: 1. A comprehensive case study of an online social media site (excluding Facebook, MySpace or Twitter). 2. An analysis and visualization of a social network (minimum size: 20 nodes). 3. A business proposal of a new social media application.

COMM3342 Fall 2011

Cuihua Shen

The final project is completed in groups with no more than 4 members. During the semester your group will be asked to deliver a short presentation of your project idea to the class. You will have two minutes to describe your project in class and will be required to turn in a project proposal. The project proposal should be a one-page description of your project; you will be expected to present your idea, rationale and why the project is relevant to your interests. As the final project counts for 25% of the overall grade, substantial effort is expected. Depending on the type and format of your project, the final deliverable should include a 5-7 page report as well as other supplementary files (if applicable). I would suggest that you talk to me early about your project so that I may provide feedback and guidance. Project presentations will occur on the last day of class, December 5th. On this day you or your group will deliver a 5-slide, 5-minute presentation of your project. Final reports will be due at 4PM on December 12th. All assignments should be emailed to me in PDF or Word format. Attendance and Participation Online Commentaries Exams Mid-term Final Team project 25% 20% 15% 15% 25%

This course uses the following grading scheme: A 93% or higher A90%-92% B+ 87%-89% B 83%-86% B80%-82% C+ 77%-79% C 73%-76% C70%-72% D+ 67%-69% D 63%-66% D60%-62% F 59% or lower

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Cuihua Shen

Academic Integrity The faculty expects from its students a high level of responsibility and academic honesty. Because the value of an academic degree depends upon the absolute integrity of the work done by the student for that degree, it is imperative that a student demonstrate a high standard of individual honor in his or her scholastic work. Scholastic Dishonesty, any student who commits an act of scholastic dishonesty is subject to discipline. Scholastic dishonesty includes but is not limited to cheating, plagiarism, collusion, the submission for credit of any work or materials that are attributable in whole or in part to another person, taking an examination for another person, any act designed to give unfair advantage to a student or the attempt to commit such acts. Plagiarism, especially from the web, from portions of papers for other classes, and from any other source is unacceptable and will be dealt with under the universitys policy on plagiarism (see general catalog for details). This course will use the resources of turnitin.com, which searches the web for possible plagiarism and is over 90% effective. Withdrawal from Class The administration of this institution has set deadlines for withdrawal of any college-level courses. These dates and times are published in that semester's course catalog. Administration procedures must be followed. It is the student's responsibility to handle withdrawal requirements from any class. In other words, I cannot drop or withdraw any student. You must do the proper paperwork to ensure that you will not receive a final grade of "F" in a course if you choose not to attend the class once you are enrolled. Incomplete Grade Policy As per university policy, incomplete grades will be granted only for work unavoidably missed at the semesters end and only if 70% of the course work has been completed. An incomplete grade must be resolved within eight (8) weeks from the first day of the subsequent long semester. If the required work to complete the course and to remove the incomplete grade is not submitted by the specified deadline, the incomplete grade is changed automatically to a grade of F. Disability Services The goal of Disability Services is to provide students with disabilities equal educational opportunities. Disability Services provides students with a documented letter to present to the faculty members to verify that the student has a disability and needs accommodations. This letter should be presented to the instructor in each course at the beginning of the semester and accommodations needed should be discussed at that time. It is the students responsibility to notify his or her professors of the need for accommodation. If accommodations are granted for testing accommodations, the student should remind the instructor five days before the exam of any testing accommodations that will be needed.

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Disability Services is located in Room 1.610 in the Student Union. Office hours are Monday Thursday, 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., and Friday 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. You may reach Disability Services at (972) 883-2098. Guidelines for documentation are located on the Disability Services website at http://www.utdallas.edu/disability/documentation/index.html Course Schedule (Check eLearning for the updated schedule) Week 1 (August 29) Introduction and Organization Week 2 (September 5) No Class (Labor Day) Week 3 (September 12) What is Social Network Analysis? Christakis & Fowler. Chapter 1 Hanneman & Riddle. Chapter 1 Gladwell, M. (1999). Six Degrees of Lois Weisberg. The New Yorker 74(41), 52-64. Milgram, S. (1967). The small world problem. Psychology Today, 2(1), 60-67. Week 4 (September 19) No Class (Oxford University Internet Conference) Week 5 (September 26) Centrality, Power & Prestige Hanneman & Riddle. Chapter 10 Valente, T. W., Unger, J. B., & Johnson, C. A. (2005). Do popular students smoke? The association between popularity and smoking among middle school students. Journal of Adolescent Health, 37(4), 323-329. Krebs, V. E. (2002). Uncloaking terrorist networks. First Monday, 7(4), http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/viewArticle/941 /863. Week 6 (October 3) Social Capital I Granovetter, M. S. (1973). The strength of weak ties. American Journal of Sociology, 78(6), 1360-1380. Burt, R. S. (2000). Network structure of social capital. In B. M. Staw & R. I. Sutton (Eds.), Research on organizational behavior (pp. 345-423). Amsterdam; London and New York: Elsevier Science JAI. Coleman, J. S. (1988). Social capital in the creation of human capital. American Journal of Sociology, 94, S95-S120.

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Week 7 (October 10) Social Capital II Putnam, R. D. (2001). Bowling alone : The collapse and revival of American community (1st Touchstone ed.). New York: Simon & Schuster. Chapters 1 & 13. Fischer, C. S. (1982). To dwell among friends: Personal networks in town and city. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Chapter 1 Nie, N. H., & Erbring, L. (2002). Internet and society: A preliminary report. IT & Society, 1(1), 275-283. Week 8 (October 17) Mid-Term Exam Network Analysis & Visualization Workshop Hanneman & Riddle. Chapter 3-6, 10 Week 9 (October 24) Homophily & Political Networks McPherson, M., Smith-Lovin, L., & Cook, J. M. (2001). Birds of a feather: Homophily in social networks. Annual Review of Sociology, 27, 415-444. Adamic, L. A., & Glance, N. (2005). The political blogosphere and the 2004 U.S. Election: Divided they blog. In Proceedings of the 3rd international workshop on link discovery (pp. 36-43): ACM. Christakis & Fowler. Chapter 6 Week 10 (October 31) Distance, Network size, and Measurement DUE before class: Project proposal (one-page) Hampton, K., & Wellman, B. (2001). Long distance community in the network society. American Behavioral Scientist, 45(3), 476-495. Dunbar, R. I. M. (2008). Cognitive constraints on the structure and dynamics of social networks. Group Dynamics, 12(1), 7-16. Project proposal presentation Week 11 (November 7) Communities Tnnies, F. (1974). On Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft (available online at http://media.pfeiffer.edu/lridener/courses/GEMEIN.HTML). Wellman, B., & Gulia, M. (1999). Virtual communities as communities: Net-surfers don't ride alone. In M. Smith & P. Kollock (Eds.), Communities in cyberspace (pp. 167-194). London: Routledge. Oldenburg, R. (1997). The great good place: Cafs, coffee shops, community centers, beauty parlors, general stores, bars, hangouts, and how they get you through the day. New York: Marlowe & Company. Chapter 2. Christakis & Fowler. Chapter 8 Week 12 (November 14) Online Social Networks.

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Donath, J. (2007). Signals in social supernets. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 13(1), 231-251. boyd, d. m., & Ellison, N. B. (2007). Social Network Sites: Definition, history, and scholarship. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 13(1), 210-230. Ellison, N. B., Steinfield, C., & Lampe, C. (2007). The benefits of facebook "Friends:" Social capital and college students' use of online Social Network Sites. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 12(4), 1143-1168. Sessions, L. F. (2010). How offline gatherings affect online communities -- when virtual community members "Meetup". Information, Communication & Society(3), 375 395. Week 13 (November 21) Diffusion and Influence Rogers, E. M. (2003). Diffusion of innovations (5th ed.). New York: Free Press. Chapter 8 (pp.300-364) Wei, X., Yang, J., Adamic, L. A., Araujo, R. M. d., & Rekhi, M. (2010). Diffusion dynamics of games on online social networks. Paper presented at the 3rd conference on Online Social Networks, Boston, MA. Markus, M. L. (1987). Toward a "Critical mass" Theory of interactive media. Communication Research, 14(5), 491-511. Week 14 (November 28) Health Christakis & Fowler Chapters 2, 3 and 4 Christakis, N. A., & Fowler, J. H. (2007). The spread of obesity in a large social network over 32 years. New England Journal of Medicine, 357(4), 370-379. Week 15 (December 5) Project Presentations Week 16 (December 12) Final Exam & Final Project Due

Acknowledgements: Some of the syllabus content and course materials have been adapted from similar courses taught by Dr. Peter Monge.