Social network analysis (SNA) is gaining attention in evaluation, showing up in conference sessions and in recent volumes of New Directions for Evaluation and American Journal of Evaluation. However, learning to use SNA can be intimidating. For beginners, SNA offers new opportunities, and challenges, around evaluation questions, data collection and management, software tools, and interpretation. In this interactive session, the presenters will help beginners get acquainted with this powerful set of approaches by drawing on their recent experiences learning SNA on the job in studies of the social dynamics of interdisciplinary research centers. Through presentations, software demonstrations, and group discussions we will explore situations where SNA can be useful; strategies for instrument design and data collection; integrating Excel, SPSS, and a commonly used SNA software package (UCINet and NetDraw); and interpreting social network data. Participants will share their questions, experiences and insights in small and large group discussions. #HowTo #2010Conference #EERS