Carter's Research Page

About Me

I am currently an associate professor in the Department of Sociology and the Institute for Mathematical Behavioral Sciences at the University of California, Irvine, with an additional appointment in the Department of Statistics. For those who are interested, an always mildly out of date copy of my vita is available here. (See also my faculty profile, which may or may not be slightly less out of date.)

I joined the UCI faculty in 2002, after receiving my Ph.D. from the Department of Social and Decision Sciences at Carnegie Mellon University. I also hold an M.S. from Carnegie Mellon University, and a B.S. from Duke University. I currently serve as an area editor for the journal Computational and Mathematical Organization Theory, and serve on the editorial boards of the Journal of Mathematical Sociology and Sociological Methodology. I have served as a council member of the American Sociological Association's Section on Mathematical Sociology, hold paper awards from the ASA's Sections on Mathematical Sociology, Rationality and Society, and Aging and the Life Course, and am a recipient of the Leo A. Goodman Award from the ASA's Section on Methodology and the Linton C. Freeman Award from the International Network for Social Network Analysis.

At UCI, I am a member of the Institute for Mathematical Behavioral Sciences, the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology (Calit2), and the California Institute for Hazards Research. I am also a member of the UCI Center for Organizational Research, the Center for Machine Learning and Intelligent Systems, and the Center for Emergency Response Technology, and am the coordinator of the UCI Social Network Research Group.

My Lab

The Networks, Computation, and Social Dynamics Lab works on a range of problems related to social networks, organizations, technology, and behavior in emergency settings. We are housed in the Calit2 facility, and enjoy strong ties with our colleagues in sociology, engineering, and computer science. Students interested in joining the lab should contact me for more information.

Research Summary

My research involves the application of formal (i.e., mathematical and computational) techniques to theoretical and methodological problems within the areas of social network analysis, mathematical sociology, quantitative methodology, and human judgment and decision making. Currently, my work focuses on: the structure of spatially embedded large-scale interpersonal networks; models for informant accuracy, network inference, and graph comparison; graphical representations of life history data; and models for human behavior in strategic situations. I am also interested in social phenomena related to emergency situations, and am involved in research which seeks to combine social science and information technology to improve group and organizational responses to disasters and other adverse events. My teaching interests include social networks, the sociology of decision making, quantitative methodology, and computational methods.

Research Topics at a Glance

Network Visualizations from My Lab