Manchester SocialStats Seminar

Social Statistics Seminars 2021/22 – February Session

Empirically calibrated network simulation as a methodology of the middle range
Christian Steglich (Linköping University and University of Groningen)

Join us at 4pm (GMT) on 8 February 2022!
Registration link: http://bit.ly/socialstats0222

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Abstract

Stochastic models of sociocentric networks were originally developed for testing hypotheses about micro-level dependencies on the basis of empirical network data. Such dependencies lead to phenomena like clustering, hub formation, or network autocorrelation. Due to the complex nature of sociocentric networks, parameter estimates of these models are typically obtained by simulation-based inference. This opens the possibility of re-purposing these models as simulation tools for the study of emergent macro-level phenomena. The combination of fitting micro-level models to empirical data sets and explanation of macro-level outcomes renders these models powerful tools for sociological inquiry into interdependent social systems. In the presentation, the use of stochastic actor-oriented models as generative models for such networked social systems is discussed. This is illustrated with an investigation of the emergence of subgroups in adolescents' friendship networks.

About the speaker

Christian Steglich is a mathematical sociologist and network researcher. He is one of the world’s leading experts in the formal modelling and inferential-statistical analysis of social networks. He has contributed to the development of statistical models for the analysis of network dynamics and the co-evolution of networks and individual behaviour. He is currently an associate professor at the Institute of Analytical Sociology in Linköping and the Department of Sociology in Groningen.

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