SNA Workshop with Steve Borgatti @GGS in Heilbronn, Germany

Those of you who have been frequent visitors to my blog will have noticed that I take an active interest in social network analysis. I’ve prepared an overview of summer schools previously and written about my experiences at the Greenwich Summer School on Social Network Analysis, for example. At my home institution, the German Graduate School of Management and Law, we have recently put on a new series of seminars called ‘Methods in Business Research’. For the next seminar, we’re proud to have Steve Borgatti of the University of Kentucky, who is, without doubt, one of the most accomplished SNA scholars in the field of management. The seminar with Steve will take place from April 9-11, 2015 at GGS in Heilbronn, Germany. Below you can find more information about the content of the seminar and how to register. 

The German Graduate School of Management and Law (GGS) organizes a series of seminars for doctoral students and post-docs with an interest in research methodology. The next seminar will take place from April 9th – 11th, 2015 at GGS and will be lectured by Steve Borgatti, Professor in the Management Department at the University of Kentucky. The workshop will show participants how to combine network data and analytical techniques to answer social science research questions.

Instructor
Professor Steve Borgatti is Professor in the Management Department at the University of Kentucky, home of the LINKS Center for Social Network Analysis. His research has been widely published in a variety of renowned scientific journals, including management journals (e.g., Administrative Science Quarterly, Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review), physics journals, sociology journals, anthropology journals, and cross-disciplinary journals such as Social Networks and Science. His research is focused on social networks, in particular notions of structural role and centrality. Prof. Borgatti is a past 2-term President of INSNA, the professional association for social network researchers, and recipient of both INSNA’s Simmel award and William D. Richards Award. He is the primary author of UCINET, a well-known software package for social network analysis. He has served as Senior Editor at Organization Science, and Associate Editor at Journal of Supply Chain Management, Computational and Mathematical Organizational Theory, Field Methods, Journal of Social Structures and several other journals.

Registration
The seminar is intended for doctoral students and post-docs who want to extend their methodological skills. The course is open to academic researchers in the fields of economics, business administration, information systems, social sciences and related subjects.

The course will be held from April 9th – 11th, 2015 at the German Graduate School of Management and Law (GGS) in Heilbronn. Accommodation during the workshop is possible within walking distance from the campus (a list of nearby hotels can be obtained upon request).

Interested candidates are asked to send their application including a short letter of motivation no later than March 1st, 2015. Applications should be sent by email to (researchmethods@ggs.de). Applications will be evaluated and candidates will be informed of the decision within a week. The number of participants is limited to 20 students.

The course fee of 300 Euros includes registration, tuition, coffee breaks and drinks as well as lunch. Cancellations after registration are only partly refundable. Upon completion all participants will receive a certificate of attendance.

Program
The course contains theory sessions, taught in a standard lecture format and tutored computer sessions during which the participants have the opportunity to apply social network methods and concepts. Lectures will be in English. Lecture notes and data sets will be provided at the beginning of the course. In order to participate in the tutored computer sessions, students are expected to bring their own laptop capable of running Windows programs. The software we will use is UCINET, which is available on a trial basis online: https://sites.google.com/site/ucinetsoftware/home Students should install UCINET in advance in order to iron out any installation problems.

Thursday, 9th – Day 1

• Overview of the Field of Social Network Analysis
• Collecting and Managing Network Data
• Visualizing Networks

Friday, 10th – Day 2

• Node-Level Analyses
• Characterizing Whole Networks

Saturday, 11th – Day 3

• Dyadic Analyses

Suggested literature:

Borgatti, S. P., Brass, D. J., & Halgin, D. S. 2014. Social network research: Confusions, criticisms, and controversies. Research in the Sociology of Organizations, vol. 40: 1–29.

Borgatti, S. P., Everett, M. G., & Johnson. 2013. Analyzing social networks. London: SAGE.

Borgatti, S. P., & Halgin, D. S. 2011. On Network Theory. Organization Science, 22(5): 1168–1181.

Kane, G. C., Alavi, M., Labianca, G. (Joe), & Borgatti, S. P. 2014. What’s Different About Social Media Networks? A Framework and Research Agenda. MIS Quarterly, 38(1): 275–304.