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Network Dynamics of Social Behavior

How do revolutions emerge without anyone expecting them? How did social norms about same sex marriage change more rapidly than anyone anticipated? Why do some social innovations take off with relative ease, while others struggle for years without spreading? More generally, what are the forces that control the process of social evolution –from the fashions that we wear, to our beliefs about religious tolerance, to our ideas about the process of scientific discovery and the best ways to manage complex research organizations? The social world is complex and full of surprises. Our experiences and intuitions about the social world as individuals are often quite different from the behaviors that we observe emerging in large societies. Even minor changes to the structure of a social network - changes that are unobservable to individuals within those networks - can lead to radical shifts in the spread of new ideas and behaviors through a population. These “invisible” mathematical properties of social networks have powerful implications for the ways that teams solve problems, the social norms that are likely to emerge, and even the very future of our society. This course condenses the last decade of cutting-edge research on these topics into six modules. Each module provides an in-depth look at a particular research puzzle -with a focus on agent-based models and network theories of social change -and provides an interactive computational model for you try out and to use for making your own explorations! Learning objectives - after this course, students will be able to... - explain how computer models are used to study challenging social problems - describe how networks are used to represent the structure of social relationships - show how individual actions can lead to unintended collective behaviors - provide concrete examples of how social networks can influence social change - discuss how diffusion processes can explain the growth social movements, changes in cultural norms, and the success of team problem solving

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Rating 4.5★ based on 54 ratings
Length 7 weeks
Effort 2-3 hours/ week
Starts Jul 10 (41 weeks ago)
Cost $49
From University of Pennsylvania via Coursera
Instructor Damon Centola
Download Videos On all desktop and mobile devices
Language English
Subjects Social Sciences
Tags Social Sciences Governance And Society

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What people are saying

network dynamics

It's too bare-bones and not very challenging, but talks about very interesting concepts As an undergrad communication student, I am consider using this information and more research on Network Dynamics of Social Behavior as the basis for my honors capstone.

I found this a very good introduction to network dynamics.

Highly recommended for anyone who wants basic knowledge on network dynamics.

Very good introduction to network dynamics for someone who has never explored this field of research.

A great entry level course for network dynamics.

Both Professors easily give an overview of Network Dynamics Awesome material and lessons.

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very good

very good overview.

i'm missing the maths behind the theory which will enable me to apply the knowledge to own problems The course gives a very good overview of the main insights and is enjoyable at the same time.

It was a very good class and I learned a lot.

I highly recommend to all managers and others interested in policy or human behavior in general Very good topic and teachers' expertize.

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good course for

This is a really good course for beginners, and it gets across some great and important ideas very intuitively (even without getting into very rigorous analysis, it does a great job).

Very good introduction to the topic It's a good course for introduction to social networks I left a mediocre review on this course but it does not show up.

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social networks

Nice approach to understand different aspects of the study of social networks dynamics, with good examples.

Sparked a lot of thinking on social networks, spreading of information and the dynamics of social change.

looking forward

I'll definitely use NetLogo by myself and am looking forward to learn more and experience more.

highly recommended.Really looking forward to more courses from this team.

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more in-depth

Thumbs up, and would love to see more and more in-depth material on the theme from the instructors.

However it could be improved a bit to discuss the models more in-depth An extremely interesting and thought-provoking.introduction to models for social network dynamics and their results.

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Careers

An overview of related careers and their average salaries in the US. Bars indicate income percentile.

Adjunct Professor, Humanities, Fine Arts & Social Sciences $11k

Social Worker, Psychology, FT, Days $37k

Administration Social Service Coordinator $41k

Social Media Researcher $45k

Senior Clinical Social Worker/Therapist $49k

Social Event Sales Representative Manager $50k

Long Term Care Social Worker $51k

SOCIAL WORKER (HOURLY) $53k

Womens and Childrens Social Worker $78k

Lincy Institute Advisory Board Member for Social Services Collaborative $80k

Adjunct Professor of Social Sciences $84k

Freelance Social Media Manager $98k

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Rating 4.5★ based on 54 ratings
Length 7 weeks
Effort 2-3 hours/ week
Starts Jul 10 (41 weeks ago)
Cost $49
From University of Pennsylvania via Coursera
Instructor Damon Centola
Download Videos On all desktop and mobile devices
Language English
Subjects Social Sciences
Tags Social Sciences Governance And Society

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