UCI professors weigh in on growth of network analysis

Network analysis models can be used to predict the spread of HIV or the collapse of the U.S. economy, and two UCI researchers are at the forefront of this rapidly expanding field. Sociologist Carter Butts (pictured) and anthropologist Douglas White recently published articles in Science magazine stressing the need for researchers and policymakers alike to regard network analysis as an evolving science. “As we learn more about networks in a wider range of contexts, we are discovering sometimes surprising things about what does and does not matter for understanding social systems,” says Butts. Papers are available here: www.sciencemag.org/content/vol325/issue5939/index.dtl.