I’ve finally got round to publishing some code and a vignette (a how-to) for our research paper “Optimal Design of Experiments on Connected Units with Application to Social Networks“.

Summary of Theory

Consider a simple network as shown in the image. Nodes 1,2,3, and 4 represent people in a network, and we wish to show an advert to each of them.

 

The idea behind the model is that if a treatment is given to subject 2, connections of subject 2 might be affected by the treatment, and their response might be altered because of the treatment I gave to subject 1.

The total effect on subject 1 is determined by whatever treatment I give to subject 1 himself, plus an effect due to the treatment I gave to subject 2.

This is formalised in the Linear network effect model. In the paper, we consider how to optimally design experiments where treatments can be transmitted through a network in this way.

 

R Code and Vignette

The aim of the vignette is to provide the means for users to reproduce the results in that paper, and extend them to their own work. This vignette, and indeed the whole package, is very much a draft, and suggestions
for changes/improvements are welcomed.

Vignette: A vignette which explains how to use the package

Code: Available on github

 

Future work

Myself and collaborators are currently working on extensions to this work e.g for Block Designs(arXiv:1902.01352), Faster algorithms for designs using networks (arXiv:1802.09582 ), and Viral Networks. Watch this space for expansions to the software!