Generate Starting Network for ERGM Estimation
generate_init_network.RdGenerates empty network of specified size and adds nodal attributes. Currently these attributes are specific to this project: a sex variable, race, age group, age, and an adjusted age variable used to capture reported age asymmetry in heterosexual partnerships in NSFG (females on average slightly younger than their male partners)
Arguments
- params
a list of parameters with a sublist called "pop" with the size of the network and the named attributes and their distribution in the population
- seed
optional, used to set a seed to maintain the same distribution of nodal attributes every time function is called
- assign_deg_casual
default = FALSE, if TRUE, uses additional parameters information in "params" to set a plausible casual degree for each node (to help fit main/long-term partnership network, which is usually fit first in workflow)