This semester we are running a new seminar at the Social Networks Lab called 'Networks and Group Dynamics'!

851-0252-07S Networks and Groups Dynamics

Semester: Spring Semester 2024

Lecturers: Christoph Stadtfeld, Alejandro Espinosa-Rada, Ivana Smoković

Periodicity: every semester recurring course

Language of instruction: English

Abstract

Groups are ubiquitous in society and profoundly influence people's behaviour, attitudes, and opinions and how they interact and create social relationships. Social network researchers have always been interested in understanding what groups are, their formation, and their societal implications (e.g., for creative work, feeling integrated into a community, achieving common goals). This seminar examines sociological, anthropological, management and social-psychological network research to identify how groups affect individuals and their social behaviour.

Objective

By the end of this seminar, students will be able to identify and compare different approaches to group theories through the lens of social network research. They will be familiar with the development and recent publications in the fields of social networks and social science and will be able to critically participate in several open debates in these fields. Among others, these debates are centred around the types and measurement of groups, challenges in understanding what groups are, the effects of groups on people’s feelings, thoughts, preferences, and behaviours (e.g., identification), and how social and cultural phenomena emerge (e.g., the diffusion of culture and the spread of social movements).

Content

The following topics will be covered:

• What is a group?

• Social circles and groups in modern society.

• Emergence of cohesive subgroups and cognitive dissonance

• Clan, kinship, social roles, and communities

• Identification and self-categorisation with groups

• Teams, leaders, and their performance

• Social influence and conformity to social norms

• Collecting data to analyse groups

These topics will be discussed considering the development of these topics through a social network perspective, recent research, and their measurement and analysis.

Performance assessment as a semester course

ECTS credits: 3 credits

Type: graded semester performance

Language of examination: English

Repetition: Repetition is only possible after re-enrolling for the course unit.

Week 1 (19.02.2024). What is a group?

Forsyth, Donelson R. (2019). Group Dynamics (7th edition). Cengage: The United States of America. Chapter 1: Introduction to Group Dynamics (pp. 1 - 33).

Supplementary reading:

·     Lindenberg, Siegwart (1997). Grounding Groups in Theory: Functional, Cognitive, and Structural Interdependencies. Advances in Group Processes, 14: 281-331.

·      Alba, Richard (1981). From Small Groups to Social Networks: Mathematical Approaches to the Study of Group Structure. American Behavioral Scientist, 24 (5): 681 – 694.

Classics:

·      Lewin, Kurt; Lippitt, Ronald & White, Ralph K. (1939). Patterns of aggressive behavior in experimentally created "social climates." The Journal of Social Psychology, 10(2), 271 - 299. 

·      Cartwright, Dorwin, & Zander, Alvin (1968). Group dynamics (3rd ed.). Harper & Row. Chapter 1 (pp. 3 - 21) and Chapter 2 (pp. 22 - 42).

Week 2 (26.02.2024). Social circles and groups in modern society

Hollstein, Betina (2021). Georg Simmel’s Contribution to Social Network Research. In: Small, Mario L.; Perry, Brea L.; Pescosolido, B. & Smith, Edward (Eds.) Personal Networks: Classic Readings and New Directions in Egocentric Analysis. Cambridge University Press (pp. 44 - 59).

Supplementary reading:

·      Kadushin, Charles (1966). Friends and Supporters of Psychotherapy: On Social Circles in Urban Life. American Sociological Review, 31(6): 786–802.

Classics:

·      Simmel, Georg (2021) From Georg Simmel, “On the Significance of Numbers for Social Life: Introduction,” “The Isolated Individual and the Dyad,” “The Triad,” and “The Web of Group Affiliations”. In: Small, Mario L.; Perry, Brea L.; Pescosolido, B. & Smith, E. (Eds.) Personal Networks: Classic Readings and New Directions in Egocentric Analysis. Cambridge University Press (pp. 29 - 43).

·      Simmel, Georg (1902). The number of members as determining the sociological form of the group. I. American Journal of Sociology, 8(1), 1-46.

·      Simmel, Georg (1902). The number of members as determining the sociological form of the group. II. American Journal of Sociology, 8(2), 158-196.

Week 3 (04.03.2024). Group/social cohesion

Forsyth, Donelson R. (2021). Recent advances in the study of group cohesion. Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice, 25(3), 213–228. 

Supplementary reading:

·      Dion, Kenneth L. (2000). Group cohesion: From "field of forces" to multidimensional construct. Group Dynamics: Theory, research, and practice, 4(1), 7.

·      Friedkin, Noah E. (2004). Social cohesion. Annual Review of Sociology, 30, 409-425.

Classics:

·      Festinger, Leon (1950). Informal social communication. Psychological Review, 57(5): 271–282.

·      Festinger, Leon; Schachter, Stanley & Back, Kurt (1950). Social Pressures in Informal Groups: A Study of Human Factors in Housing. New York: Harper. Chapter 1.

Week 4 (11.03.2024). Emergence of cohesive subgroups and cognitive dissonance I

Rawlings, Craig M., & Friedkin, Noah E. (2017). The structural balance theory of sentiment networks: Elaboration and test. American Journal of Sociology, 123(2), 510-548.

Supplementary reading:

·     Hummon, Norman P., & Doreian, Patrick (2003). Some dynamics of social balance processes: bringing Heider back into balance theory. Social Networks, 25(1), 17-49.

·   Newcomb, Theodore M. (1968). Impersonal Balance. In: R. P. Abelson, E. Aronson, W. J. McGuire, T. M. Newcomb, M. Rosenberg & P. H. Tannenbaum. Theories of Cognitive Consistency: A Sourcebook. Rand McNally and Company, Chicago (pp. 28-51).

Classics:

·      Heider, Fritz (1946) Attitudes and cognitive organization. Journal of Psychology, 21, 107–112.

·      Cartwright, Dorwin, & Harary, Frank (1956). Structural balance: a generalization of Heider's theory. Psychological Review, 63(5), 277-293.

Week 5 (18.03.2024). Emergence of cohesive subgroups and cognitive dissonance II

Wölfer, Ralf; Faber, Nadira S., & Hewstone, Miles (2015). Social network analysis in the science of groups: Cross-sectional and longitudinal applications for studying intra-and intergroup behavior. Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice, 19(1), 45-61.

Supplementary reading:

·   Everett, Martin G., & Borgatti, Steve P. (1998). Analyzing clique overlap. Connections, 21(1), 49-61. 

·      Fortunato, Santo (2010). Community detection in graphs. Physics Reports, 486(3-5), 75-174.

Classics:

·    Davis, James A. (1967) Clustering and structural balance in graphs. Human Relations 30, 181–187.

·   Davis, James A. and Leinhardt, Samuel (1972), ‘The structure of positive interpersonal relations in small groups’, in J. Berger, M. Zelditch Jr. and B. Anderson (Eds.), Sociological Theories in Progress, vol. 2, Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin (pp. 218–251).

Week 6 (25.03.2024). Social influence and the conformity to social norms

Flache, Andreas; Mäs, Michael; Feliciani, Thomas; Chattoe-Brown, Edmund; Deffuant, Guillaume; Huet, Sylvie, & Lorenz, Jan (2017). Models of social influence: Towards the next frontiers. Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation, 20(4).

Supplementary reading:

·      Friedkin, Noah E., & Johnsen, Eugene C. (2011). Social influence network theory: A sociological examination of small group dynamics. Cambridge University Press (pp. 3-114).

·   Marsden, Peter V., & Friedkin, Noah E. (1993). Network studies of social influence. Sociological Methods & Research, 22(1), 127-151.

Classics:

·      Ash, Solomon (1956) Studies of Independence and Conformity: I. A Minority of One against a Unanimous Majority. Psychological Monographs: General and Applied, 70(9): 1–70.

·      Sherif, Muzafer & Sherif, Carolyn W. (1979) Research on Intergroup Relations. In: Austin, W. G. & Worchel, S. (Eds.). The Social Psychology of Intergroup Relations. Monterey, California: Brooks/Cole Publishing Company (pp. 7–18).

Week 7 (08.04.2024). Clan, kinship, social roles, and communities (primary groups)

White, Douglas (2011). Kinship, Class, and Community. In: Scott, John & Carrington, Peter J. (Eds.) The SAGE Handbook of Social Network Analysis. SAGE Publications (pp. 129-147). 

Supplementary reading:

·   Pattison, Phillipa (2023). Algebraic Approaches to the Analysis of Social Networks. In: M. N. Hounkonnou, D. Marinovic, M. Mitrovic & P. Pattison. Mathematics for Social Sciences and Arts. Springer (pp. 177 - 203).

·      Boissevain, Jeremy (1971). Second Thoughts on Quasi-Groups, Categories and Coalitions. Man, 6(3), 468–472. 

·      Boissevain, Jeremy (1968). The place of non-groups in the social sciences. Man, 3(4), 542–556. 

Classics:

·      Nadel, Siegfried F. (1957) The Theory of Social Structure. Routledge. Chapter 2: Problems of Role Analysis (pp. 20-44).

·      White, Harrison C., Boorman, Scott A., & Breiger, Ronald L. (1976). Social structure from multiple networks. I. Blockmodels of roles and positions. American Journal of Sociology, 81(4), 730-780.

Week 8 (22.04.2024). Identification and self-categorisation with groups

Khuu, Thoa V.; Schaefer, David R.; Umaña-Taylor, Adriana J. & Ryan, Allison M. (2023). The Limitations of Intergroup Friendship: Using Social Network Analysis to Test the Pathways Linking Contact and Intergroup Attitudes in a Multigroup Context. Socius, 9, 1-25.

Supplementary reading:

·      Hogg, Michael A.; Abrams, Dominic; Otten, Sabine & Hinkle, Steve (2004). The social identity perspective: Intergroup relations, self-conception, and small groups. Small Group Research, 35(3), 246-276.

·      Brown, Rupert (2020). The origins of the minimal group paradigm. History of Psychology, 23(4), 371.

Classics:

·      Tajfel, Henri & Turner, John C. (1986). The Social Identity Theory of Intergroup Behavior. In: Worchel, Stephen and Austin, William G. (eds.) Psychology of Intergroup Relation. Hall Publishers: Chicago (pp. 7- 24). 

·   Turner, John; Hogg, Michael A.; Oakes, Penelpe J.; Reicher, Stephen D. & Wetherell, Margaret S. (1987). Rediscovering the Social Group: A Self-categorization Theory. Chapter 1: Introducing the problem: Individuals and Group (pp. 1 - 18), Chapter 2: Rediscovering the Social Group (pp. 19 - 41), and Chapter 3: A Self-Categorization Theory (pp. 42 - 67). 

Week 9 (29.04.2024). Teams, leaders, and their performance

Burt, Ronald S.; Reagans, Ray E., & Volvovsky, Hagay C. (2021). Network brokerage and the perception of leadership. Social Networks, 65, 33-50.

Supplementary reading:

·      Krackhardt, David (1999). The ties that torture: Simmelian tie analysis in organizations. Research in the Sociology of Organizations, 16(1), 183-210.

·      Quintane, Eric, & Carnabuci, Gianluca (2016). How do brokers broker? Tertius gaudens, tertius iungens, and the temporality of structural holes. Organization Science, 27(6), 1343-1360.

Classics:

·      Burt, Ronald S. (1992) Structural Holes: The Social Structure of Competition. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA (pp. 1-50).

·      Granovetter, Mark S. (1973). The strength of weak ties. American journal of sociology, 78(6), 1360-1380.

Week 10 (06.05.2024). Focus of activities

Schaefer, David R.; Khuu, Thoa V., Rambaran, J. Ashwin, Rivas-Drake, Deborah, & Umaña-Taylor, Adriana J. (2022). How do youth choose activities? Assessing the relative importance of the micro-selection mechanisms behind adolescent extracurricular activity participation. Social Networks.

Supplementary reading:

·      Feld, Scott L.; Knighton, Devin T. & McGail, Alec (2021). Reflections on “The Focused Organization of Social Ties” and its Implications for Bonding and Bridging. In: Small, Mario L.; Perry, Brea L.; Pescosolido, B. & Smith, Edward (Eds.) Personal Networks: Classic Readings and New Directions in Egocentric Analysis. Cambridge University Press (pp. 44 - 59).

·      Entwisle, Barbara; Faust, Katherine; Rindfuss, Ronald, R., & Kaneda, Toshiko (2007). Networks and Contexts: Variation in the Structure of Social Ties. American Journal of Sociology, 112(5), 1495-1533.

Classics:

·      Feld, Scott L. (1981). The focused organization of social ties. American journal of sociology, 86(5), 1015-1035.

·      Feld, Scott L. (1982). Social structural determinants of similarity among associates. American sociological review, 797-801.

Week 11 (13.05.2024). Homophily and Blau space

Doehne, Malte; McFarland, Daniel A. & Moody, James. (2023). Network ecology: Tie fitness in social context (s). Social Networks.

Supplementary reading:

·      Kossinets, Gueorgi, & Watts, Duncan J. (2009). Origins of homophily in an evolving social network. American Journal of Sociology, 115(2), 405-450.

·      McPherson, Miller, Smith-Lovin, Lynn, & Cook, James M. (2001). Birds of a feather: Homophily in social networks. Annual Review of Sociology, 27(1), 415-444.

Classics:

·      Lazarsfeld, Paul F., & Merton, Robert K. (1954). Friendship as a social process: A substantive and methodological analysis. In: M. Berger, T. Abel & C. Page (Eds.) Freedom and Control in Modern Society. New York: Octagon Books (pp. 18–66).

·      Blau, Peter, & Schwartz, Joseph (1997). Crosscutting social circles: Testing a macrostructural theory of intergroup relations. Routledge: The United States of America (pp. 1 - 24).

Week 12 (27.05.2024). Duality of groups and individuals

Neal, Zachary P. (2023). The duality of networks and groups: Models to generate two-mode networks from one-mode networks. Network Science, 1-14.

Supplementary reading:

·      Mohr, John W., & White, Harrison C. (2008). How to model an institution. Theory and Society, 37(5), 485-512.

·      Mützel, Sophie, & Breiger, Ronald (2020). Duality beyond persons and groups. In: Light, Ryan & Moody, James (Eds.). The Oxford Handbook of Social Networks. Oxford University Press (pp. 392-413).

Classics:

·      Breiger, Ronald L. (1974). The duality of persons and groups. Social forces, 53(2), 181-190.

·      Freeman, Linton C. (2003). Finding social groups: A meta-analysis of the southern women data. In: Breiger, Ronald; Carley, Kathleen & Pattison, Philippa (Eds.). Dynamic Social Network Modeling and Analysis: Workshop Summary and Papers. National Research Council of the National Academy: The United States of America (pp. 39-45).

The seminar aims to guide students in the creation of a well-researched and analytically sound paper, fostering the development of critical thinking and effective written communication skills within the area of groups dynamics and social networks.

In this course, assessment comprises three integral components crafted to enable students to showcase their comprehension and critical engagement with the seminar's themes. The mid-term presentation, constituting 30% of the overall grade, offers students a platform to delineate the structure of their paper, providing insights into their selected topic, theoretical framework, and preliminary findings. Functioning as a pivotal checkpoint for feedback and refinement, this presentation aids in the iterative improvement of their work. Another 50% of the assessment is allocated to the final paper, where students are expected to demonstrate their proficiency in synthesizing course material, integrating external scholarly sources, and presenting a well-reasoned analysis of their chosen topic. Additionally, student participation, accounting for 20% of the overall grade, is integrated throughout the course, encouraging active engagement and collaborative learning. This assessment strategy aims to cultivate in-depth understanding, critical thinking, and effective communication of theoretical perspectives, ensuring students develop both oral and written communication skills within the social sciences.

·      Participation: 20%

·      Mid-term presentation: 30%

·      Final paper: 50%