Course

Unit 1

Social Network Analysis 

Relations and interactions among social entities; network structures, centrality, and information flow; Applications 

Unit 2

Public Opinion and Sentiment Analysis 

Sources of public opinion; Analysis of public opinion on various topics; Applications from policy studies; Shifts in public sentiments 

Unit 3

Introduction to Agent-based Modelling 

Role of ABM in social simulations; Basic concepts of ABM; System dynamics; Emergent dynamics in ABM NetLogo tool basics; Demonstration of simple agent-based models 

Unit 4

Geo-spatial Analysis 

Role of geospatial analysis and its applications; Social disparities and spatial patterns; Analysing the spatial distribution of social issues. 

Text Books / References

Textbooks 

1. Cioffi-Revilla, Claudio. Introduction to computational social science. Springer London. https://doi. org/10.1007/978-1-4471-5661-1, 2014. 

References: 

1. Aragona, Maria Gabriella Grassia-Biagio. “Data Science and Social Research.” (2016). 
2. Cariceo, Oscar, Murali Nair, and Jay Lytton. “Data science for social work practice.” Methodological Innovations 11.3 (2018): 2059799118814392. 

Course Objectives: 

• Introduce the concepts of social network analysis and its relevance to psychology
• Explore social media data to understand and analyse patterns in public opinion 
• Introducing students to Agent-Based modelling, combining theoretical concepts, practical skill development, and real-world applications. 
• Integrates geospatial concepts with social and behavioural science contexts and issues. 
• Hands-on experience exploring public opinion data to gain insights on opinion trends and communication networks. 

Course Outcomes: 

• CO1: Demonstrate understanding of key concepts in social network analysis and how information flows within social networks
• CO2: Identify sources influencing public opinion and understand the impact of public opinion on policy studies
• CO3: Demonstrate understanding of system dynamics and emergent behaviours.
• CO4: Recognise the interconnectedness of social network analysis, public opinion analysis, agent-based modelling, and geospatial analysis.
• CO5: Understand how computational methods can be applied to address social issues. 

Skills: 

• Ability to define and identify social entities, nodes, and ties within a network. 
• Proficiency in understanding and interpreting network structures using graph theory concepts. 
• Ability to identify and analyse various sources influencing public opinion. 
• Competence in collecting and analysing public opinion data and visualising public opinion trends. 
• Proficiency in creating simple agent-based models and understanding emergent behaviours using available tools like NetLogo 

CO – PO Mapping