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Faculty members

McFarland, Daniel A.

Daniel A McFarland
Daniel A McFarland
Academic Title 
Professor
Other Titles 

Professor of Sociology and Organizational Behavior (by courtesy)

Contact Information
(650) 723-1761
mcfarland@stanford.edu
CE 419
https://profiles.stanford.edu/daniel-mcfarland
Admin. Support 
Nadia Ahmed
Program Affiliations 
SHIPS (PhD): Higher Education
SHIPS (PhD): Organization Studies
SHIPS (PhD): Social Sciences in Education
SHIPS (PhD): Sociology of Education
(MA) POLS
(MA) MA/MBA

  Research Interests

Communication Analysis
Computing Implementations in Statistical Research and Instruction
Design and Analysis of Longitudinal Research
Higher Education
Intergroup Relations
Models in the Social and Behavioral Sciences
Organizational Change
Organizations
Peer Groups
Qualitative Research Methods
Research Methods
Scholarly Communication
School as a Context of Human Development
Social Networks
Social Psychology
Social Theory
Sociolinguistics
Sociology of Culture
Sociology of Education
Sociology of Knowledge
Sociology of the Classroom
Statistical Methods and Applications in Statistical Issues

  Current Research

I am currently engaged in several projects.

1. I am writing a textbook on Social Network Analysis in R with James Moody and Jeff Smith. 

2. I am writing up a series of papers on how micro-events in interaction relate to social networks with Jan Fuhse. 

3. However, the majority of my current research projects concern the sociology of science and research innovation. 

  Research Summary

I study the social and organizational dynamics of educational systems like schools, classrooms and universities. In particular, I have performed a series of studies on classroom organization and interaction; on the formation of adolescent relationships, social structures, and identities; on interdisciplinary collaboration and intellectual innovation; and on relational sociology. I have broad research interests and have been drawn into a variety of interdisciplinary collaborations with linguists and computer scientists. This in turn has led to studies of big data and methodological advances in social networks and language modeling.  

  Education

PhD / MA University of Chicago, Sociology

BA University of Chicago, Philosophy

  Time at Stanford

Stanford University, since 2000

  Courses Taught

Social Network Analysis

Sociology of Knowledge Creation

Microsociology

Organizational Analysis

Sociology of Education

  Recent Publications

Smith, Sanne, Daniel A. McFarland, Frank van Tubergen & Ineke Maas. 2016. “Ethnic Composition and Friendship Segregation: Differential Effects for Adolescent Natives and Immigrants.” Forthcoming American Journal of Sociology 121(4): 1223-72.

McFarland, Daniel A., and H. Richard McFarland. 2015. "Big Data and the danger of being precisely inaccurate." Big Data & Society 2(2): DOI 2053951715602495.

McFarland, Daniel A., Kevin Lewis and Amir Goldberg. 2015. "Sociology in the Era of Big Data: The Ascent of Forensic Social Science.” The American Sociologist, 47(1), 12-35.

Rawlings, Craig M., Daniel A. McFarland, Linus P. Dahlander, and Daniel J. Wang. 2015. “Streams of Thought: How Ties Form and Influence Flows among New Faculty.” Social Forces 93(4): 1687-1722. 

McFarland, Daniel A., James Moody, David Diehl, Jeff Smith, and Reuben J. Thomas. 2014. “Network Ecology and Adolescent Social Structure.” American Sociological Review 79(6): 1088-1121.

Biancani, Susan, Linus Dahlander, and Daniel A. McFarland. 2014. “The Semi-Formal Organization.” Organization Science. Permalink: http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/orsc.2013.0882 

Kizilcec, René, Emily Schneider, Geoffrey Cohen and Daniel McFarland. 2014. “Encouraging Forum Participation in Online Courses with Collectivist, Individualist, and Neutral Motivational Framings.” eLearning Papers, vol 37.

McFarland, Daniel A., Dan Jurafsky and Craig Rawlings. 2013. “Making the Connection: Social Bonding in Courtship Situations.” American Journal of Sociology 118 (6), 1596-1649. 

Dahlander, Linus and Daniel A. McFarland. 2013. “Ties that Last: A Longitudinal Study of Tie Formation and Persistence.” Administrative Science Quarterly 58 (1)69–110. 

McFarland, Daniel A., Christopher D. Manning, Daniel Ramage, Jason Chuang, Jeffrey Heer, and Dan Jurafsky. 2013. “Differentiating Language Usage Through Topic Models.” Poetics 41, 6:607–625.

DuBois, Christopher, Carter T Butts, Daniel A McFarland and Padhraic Smyth. 2013. “Hierarchical Models for Relational Event Sequences.” Journal of Mathematical Psychology 57, 6:297–309.

Biancani, Susan and Daniel A. McFarland.  2013. “Social Networks Research in Higher Education.” Higher Education: Handbook of Theory and Research 28: 151-215.

Stevenson, David K., Gary M. Shaw, Paul H. Wise, Mary E. Norton, Maurice L. Druzin and Daniel A. McFarland. 2012. “Transdisciplinary Translational Science and The Case of Preterm Birth.” The Journal of Perinatology (2012): 1-8.

Diehl, David and Daniel A. McFarland (alphabetical listing). 2012. “Classroom Ordering and the Situational Imperatives of Routine and Ritual.” Sociology of Education 85, 4: 326-349.

Rajesh Ranganath, Dan Jurafsky, and Daniel A. McFarland. 2012. “Detecting Friendly, Flirtatious, Awkward, and Assertive Speech in Speed-Dates.” Computer Speech and Language 27, 1: 89-115.

Wang, Dan J., Xiaolin Shi, Daniel A. McFarland, and Jure Leskovec. 2012. "Measurement error in social network data: A re-classification." Social Networks. July, 34 (4).

Rawlings, Craig and Daniel A. McFarland. 2011. “The Ties that Influence: How Social Networks Channel Faculty Grant Productivity.” Social Science Research 40: 1001-17.

Diehl, David and Daniel A. McFarland. 2010. “Towards a Historical Sociology of Situations.” American Journal of Sociology 115,6: 1713-1752.a

McFarland, Daniel A. and Eric Klopfer. 2010. “Network Search: Utilizing Technology and the Sociology of Knowledge to Revolutionize the Field of Education.” Teachers College Record 112 (10): 8-9.

McFarland, Daniel A. and Simon Rodan. 2009. “Organization by Design: Supply- and Demand-Side Models of Math Careers.” Sociology of Education 82 (4): 315-343.

McFarland, Daniel A., and Carlos Starmanns. 2009. “Inside Student Government.” Teachers College Record 111 (1): 27-54.

Bender-deMoll, Skye and McFarland, Daniel A. (alphabetical listing). 2006. “The Art and Science of Dynamic Network Visualization.” Journal of Social Structure, vol. 7, no. 2. http://www.cmu.edu/joss/content/articles/volume7/deMollMcFarland/

McFarland, Daniel A. 2006. “Curricular Flows: Trajectories, Turning Points, and Assignment Criteria in High School Math Careers.” Sociology of Education 79 (3): 177-205.

McFarland, Daniel A., and R. Jack Thomas. 2006. “Bowling Young: How Youth Voluntary Associations Influence Adult Political Participation.” American Sociological Review 71 (3): 401-425.

McFarland, Daniel A. and Heili Pals. 2005. “Motives and Contexts of Identity Change: A Case for Network Effects.” Social Psychology Quarterly 68 (4): 289-315.

Moody, James, Daniel A. McFarland, and Skye Bender-deMoll. 2005. “Dynamic Network Visualization.” American Journal of Sociology 110 (4): 1206-1241.

McFarland, Daniel A. 2004. “Resistance as a Social Drama – A Study of Change-Oriented Encounters.” American Journal of Sociology 109 (6): 1249-1318.

McFarland, Daniel A. 2001. “Student Resistance: How the Formal and Informal Organization of Classrooms Facilitate Everyday Forms of Student Defiance.” American Journal of Sociology 107 (3): 612-78.

  Conferences

You can find me at:

ASA in Seattle, Aug 19-23

Conference on Relational Events at Yale, Sept 16