A survey of statistical network models

Networks are ubiquitous in science and have become a focal point for discussion in everyday life. Formal statistical models for the analysis of network data have emerged as a major topic of interest in diverse areas of study, and most of these involve a form of graphical representation. Probability models on graphs date back to 1959. Along with empirical studies in social psychology and sociology from the 1960s, these early works generated an active network community and a substantial literature in the 1970s. This effort moved into the statistical literature in the late 1970s and 1980s, and the past decade has seen a burgeoning network literature in statistical physics and computer science. The growth of the World Wide Web and the emergence of online networking communities such as Facebook, MySpace, and LinkedIn, and a host of more specialized professional network communities has intensified interest in the study of networks and network data. Our goal in this review is to provide the reader with an entry point to this burgeoning literature. We begin with an overview of the historical development of statistical network modeling and then we introduce a number of examples that have been studied in the network literature. Our subsequent discussion focuses on a number of prominent static and dynamic network models and their interconnections. We emphasize formal model descriptions, and pay special attention to the interpretation of parameters and their estimation. We end with a description of some open problems and challenges for machine learning and statistics.Comment: 96 pages, 14 figures, 333 reference

Show and Tell: Using Restorative Practices and Asset Based Community Development to Address Issues of Safety and Violence

The purpose of this study was to explore how restorative practices could help increase the social fabric within communities in order to help solve complex community problems. Although literature on restorative practices is bountiful for the purposes of restorative justice and restorative practices in schools, there is little literature on how to use restorative practices to create more restorative communities or neighborhoods. For the purpose of this study I looked at the issue of violence and safety within a particular community and implemented a framework of restorative practices that focused on asset based community development and building healthier relationships. I utilized action research to conduct intentional gatherings of communicative space that were supported by a study circle framework and collected data in ways that included interviews, pre-post surveys, and mapping documents, as well as documentation of all observed outcomes in relation to the study circles. The findings proposed that when communities are given the opportunity to intentionally gather to communicate in a restorative context, citizens learn about new opportunities or assets, and relationships spill over from study circles processes causing actions to occur directly and also on a second degree level. These new actions can assist communities in rationing together better ways of solving complex community problems. The electronic version of the Dissertation is accessible in the open-access Ohiolink ETD Center http://etd.ohiolink.edu

Show and Tell: Using Restorative Practices and Asset Based Community Development to Address Issues of Safety and Violence

The purpose of this study was to explore how restorative practices could help increase the social fabric within communities in order to help solve complex community problems. Although literature on restorative practices is bountiful for the purposes of restorative justice and restorative practices in schools, there is little literature on how to use restorative practices to create more restorative communities or neighborhoods. For the purpose of this study I looked at the issue of violence and safety within a particular community and implemented a framework of restorative practices that focused on asset based community development and building healthier relationships. I utilized action research to conduct intentional gatherings of communicative space that were supported by a study circle framework and collected data in ways that included interviews, pre-post surveys, and mapping documents, as well as documentation of all observed outcomes in relation to the study circles. The findings proposed that when communities are given the opportunity to intentionally gather to communicate in a restorative context, citizens learn about new opportunities or assets, and relationships spill over from study circles processes causing actions to occur directly and also on a second degree level. These new actions can assist communities in rationing together better ways of solving complex community problems. The electronic version of the Dissertation is accessible in the open-access Ohiolink ETD Center http://etd.ohiolink.edu