Methods and Applications for Detecting Structure in Complex Networks

To my parents ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank my adviser, Professor Mark Newman, for his insights and guidance over the past several years. His pursuit of research excellence is truly in-spirational. Mark has always challenged me to do my best work and I know I have learned a great deal from him. Also, I would like to thank Professor Gavin Clarkson for his unique perspective on my research and willingness to collaborate. I would like to thank Beth Percha, Gourab Ghoshal, and Brian Karrer for many useful discussions as well as for being excellent officemates. Many thanks go to Kevin McGrath; he has always been willing to share his vast knowledge of computers and programming with me. Additionally, I would like to thank Professor Jean Krisch for all of her wisdom. I thank Michael Busha for his energy, his love, and his optimism which inspire me and keep me going. Finally, I want to thank my parents whose years of love and support have allowed me to reach this point. This work uses data from Add Health, a program project designed by J. Richar