Intro materials: network analysis software (UCINET, NodeXL, Gephi, Statnet, ERGM, RSiena)

In the fall of 2012, I got to design & lead the weekly labs for a network seminar at USC. I also worked on the methods portion of the syllabus for the class. COMM 645: Communication Networks is a PhD-level course taught by Peter Monge. The labs cover a range of network tools – from the classic UCINET program through NodeXL and Gephi, to R introduction, Statnet, exponential random graph and actor-based modeling. Since the handouts & script examples may be useful for people outside the course, I’m sharing them here.

[Update 2014] The materials listed below, along with sample datasets and lab assignments, are now available as a GitHub Repository here.

• Basics of network formats handout (PDF download).
• Intro to UCINET and NetDraw handout (PDF download).
• Intro to NodeXL handout (PDF download).
• Intro to Gephi handout (PDF download).
• Intro to R (script example).
• Networks in R using Statnet/SNA/Network (script example).
• Network correlation & regression in R. QAP & MRQAP.
  Conditional uniform graph (CUG) tests (script example).
• Exponential random graph modeling basics handout (PDF download).
  Exponential random graph modeling in R (script example).
• Actor-based modeling basics handout (PDF download).
  Actor-based modeling in R (script example).