Soc. 197d (Course ID 347-849-200) Soc. 285e (Course ID 347-512-200) Wednesdays 10:00 to 12:50 in 2023 Public Policy Building computer lab.Computers in the modeling of marriage formation and other types of pairing phenomena (Special topics seminar)
In this seminar we will make use of computers in the study of pairing types of phenomena, such as people marrying, laboratory subjects forming exchange partnerships, or prospective employees being hired to fill job vacancies. We will be interested in the ways in which outcomes of the pairing process (e.g., how many and which types remain unpaired) are affected by structural constraints and individual preferences (e.g., numbers of potential partners available, taboos forbidding certain pairings, and preference for a mate with particular characteristics). The "marriage squeeze" is important, as is positional power in exchange networks. Models variously operate at the aggregate demographic level, the network level, or the level of individuals.
In this seminar we will use Mathematica software. This is a powerful and versatile computing environment, whose capabilities include both numerical and symbolic computation. It can also serve as a platform for agent-based modeling.
There is a considerable body of material on these topics, and we will cover only a sample of it this quarter.
Prerequisite: Instructor consent. For a PTE number, email me at mcfarland@soc.ucla.edu, with:
your name your student ID number your preferred email address your background (see next paragraph)Previous knowledge of Mathematica software is not a prerequisite, but some previous computer experience beyond word processing and web browsing (e.g., a programming course in the PIC series) is desirable, as is introductory level exposure to probability and matrices.
We will be using several chapters of the following, which the bookstore has been asked to stock:
William T. Shaw and Jason Tigg 1994. Applied Mathematica: Getting Started, Getting It Done. Reading: Addison Wesley (ISBN 0-201-54217-X).
Substantive readings, about marriage and other pairing phenomena, will variously be linked from jstor, or placed on the web site or library reserve.
Requirements Each student will be expected to do assigned readings in preparation, to participate regularly in class sessions, and to perform, write up, and submit several computer assignments.