Estudia

Dades generals

Curs acadèmic:

2009

Descripció:

The interest in complex networks, in the last decades, has followed the growth of computer networking on a global scale (e.g. Internet and the Web). New interdisciplinary work, carried out by a wide range of scientists with different backgrounds (physics, mathematics, economics, sociology, biology etc.) has led to the study of a large number of applications which have developed a wide range of analysis techniques and models and provided important insights. Social network analysis (SNA) rests on the assumption that the relationships between individuals or organizations constitute a structure that can be analysed in its own right. Social network analysis focuses on the relationships between actors and acknowledges that an individual’s behaviour is influenced by those around them. Actors and their actions are viewd as interdependent rather than independent units.. It means that the unit of analysis is not the individual, but an entity consisting of the individuals and the linkages connecting them. SNA embraces a group of methods that allow the computational and systematic analysis of social and organizational structure of a group or network as a whole as well as of the positioning of individual actor within this network. The use of SNA permits the discovery of order or disorder in social systems that either involve too many actors or are too complex to be analysed by eye. Considering the interdependencies amongst tourism stakeholders and the growing body of research on tourism networks, cooperation and partnerships, SNA can be fuitfully used in tourism research. Applications of SNA in tourism research seems promising for the exploration of local and regional tourism networks thereby allowing ot systematically study tourism clusters and the dynamics and interrelations of SMTEs (small- and medium-sized tourism enterprises), tourism planning and entrepreneurship. After taking the course you should be able to understand the basic concepts of social network analysis, be familiar with network analysis application to tourism issues and be able to carry out analysis of network data. The aim of this course is to offer an overview of the theory of complex networks and to provide examples of application to the field of tourism. The characteristics of tourism make it a very difficult subject to be defined with a reasonable accuracy. Terms such as complex, dynamic, networks, information intensive and others are very often used to describe the area. Network analysis techniques look especially suited for the study of a tourism destination. After an introduction to the tools and methods of network science and its situation in the more general framework of chaos and complexity theories, this course will address the outcomes obtained in the analysis of a tourism destination. The implications of these results will be examined and discussed. A number of practical exercises will be proposed in order to better illustrate the major issues.

Crèdits:

3

Idioma principal de les classes:

Anglès

S’utilitza oralment la llengua anglesa en l'assignatura:

Completament (100%)

S’utilitzen documents en llengua anglesa:

Completament (100%)

Grups

Grup A

Durada:

Semestral, 1r semestre

Professorat:

Jaume Oscar Guía Julve

Competències

• Diagnosticar necessitats i oportunitats i identificar les potencialitats i amenaces de destinació
• Entendre la destinació turística com a sistema
• Comprendre la importància de les xarxes en les que treballa l’organització i saber-se posicionar
• Saber representar a l’organització
• Relacionar agents implicats en el desenvolupament del producte turístic
• Utilitzar tècniques de recollida i anàlisi de dades
• Dominar els fonaments i aplicar metodologies científiques adequades
• Analitzar situacions complexes i dissenyar estratègies per a la seva resolució, individualment i en equip
• Utilitzar tecnologies de la informació i la comunicació
• Utilitzar la llengua anglesa

Continguts

1. INTRODUCTION TO COMPLEX NETWORKS AND ELEMENTARY GRAPH THEORY

2. GRAPH VISUALIZATION AND COMPLEX NETWORKS MODELS

3. INTRODUCTION TO PAJEK SOFTWARE

4. TOURISM DESTINATIONS AS NETWORKS

Activitats

Tipus d’activitat	Hores amb professor	Hores sense professor	Total
Cerca i anàlisi d'informació	0	6,00	6,00
Elaboració individual de treballs	8,00	25,00	33,00
Exposició dels estudiants	4,00	0	4,00
Lectura / comentari de textos	0	16,00	16,00
Sessió expositiva	7,75	0	7,75
Sessió pràctica	8,25	0	8,25
Total	28,00	47,00	75

Bibliografia

• Noel Scott, Rodolfo Baggio and Chris Cooper (2008). Network Analysis and Tourism: From Theory to Practice. Clevedon, UK: Channel view publication.
• Wasserman, Stanley, Faust, Katherine (1994). Social network analysis : methods and applications. Cambridge [etc.]: Cambridge University Press.
• Knoke, David, Kuklinski, James H. (1982). Network analysis. Newbury Park [etc.]: Sage.
• Scott, J. (2000). Social Network Analysis: a Handbook (2a). Sage.
• Stokowski, P.A. (1994). Leisure and Society: A network Structural Perspective. Continuum International Pub..
• Hanneman, R. and Riddle, M. (2005). Introduction to Social Network Methods. University of California.
• Degenne, A. and Forse, M. (1999). Introducing Social Networks. Sage. Catàleg

Avaluació i qualificació

Activitats d'avaluació:

Descripció de l'activitat	Avaluació de l'activitat	%

Qualificació

Final grades will be computed from the quality of participation in the classroom and the qualtiy of the final assignment:

Participation

Class participation is a very important part of the learning process in this course. Thirty percent of your final grade will be based on an assessment of the quality of your contributions to class discussions. Quality of contribution and insights is important to enhance our class. Quality comments possess one or more of the following attributes:

They offer a unique, relevant perspective on the issue being discussed.
They bring the conceptual issues treated in the readings to the analysis of the case
They contribute to moving the discussion and analysis forward.
They build on others’ comments. Too often managers and students fail to listen to what others are saying; simply repeating a previous comment is not participation.

Assignments

The course involves some reading of journal articles or book chapters, and some lab excercises or assignments. Through this we will assess your ability to analyze particular situations and to show understanding of the course concepts as they apply to them. You will be evaluated on the basis of your ability to use the conceptual frameworks developed in the course.

Observacions

The course is accessible to open-minded students with basic mathematical skills. Some familiarity with calculus, differential equations, linear algebra, and statistical methods is highly beneficial. An average computer literacy is also valuable for the hands-on sessions.