Digital Social Research

Digital Social Research
Author: Giuseppe A. Veltri
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 212
Release: 2019-10-25
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1509529330

To analyse social and behavioural phenomena in our digitalized world, it is necessary to understand the main research opportunities and challenges specific to online and digital data. This book presents an overview of the many techniques that are part of the fundamental toolbox of the digital social scientist. Placing online methods within the wider tradition of social research, Giuseppe Veltri discusses the principles and frameworks that underlie each technique of digital research. This practical guide covers methodological issues such as dealing with different types of digital data, construct validity, representativeness and big data sampling. It looks at different forms of unobtrusive data collection methods (such as web scraping and social media mining) as well as obtrusive methods (including qualitative methods, web surveys and experiments). Special extended attention is given to computational approaches to statistical analysis, text mining and network analysis. Digital Social Research will be a welcome resource for students and researchers across the social sciences and humanities carrying out digital research (or interested in the future of social research).

Digital Sociology

Digital Sociology
Author: Noortje Marres
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 203
Release: 2017-05-11
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0745684823

This provocative new introduction to the field of digital sociology offers a critical overview of interdisciplinary debates about new ways of knowing society that are emerging today at the interface of computing, media, social research and social life. Digital Sociology introduces key concepts, methods and understandings that currently inform the development of specifically digital forms of social enquiry. Marres assesses the relevance and usefulness of digital methods, data and techniques for the study of sociological phenomena and evaluates the major claim that computation makes possible a new ‘science of society’. As Marres argues, the digital does much more than inspire innovation in social research: it forces us to engage anew with fundamental sociological questions. We must learn to appreciate that the digital has the capacity to throw into crisis existing knowledge frameworks and is likely to reconfigure wider relations. This timely engagement with a key transformation of our age will be indispensable reading for undergraduate and graduate students taking courses in digital sociology, digital media, computing and society.

Theories, Methods, Practices, and Fields of Digital Social Research

Theories, Methods, Practices, and Fields of Digital Social Research
Author: Gabriella Punziano
Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
Total Pages: 290
Release: 2024-07-08
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 2832551467

The digital, in the form of technologies, scenarios, objects, processes, and relational and interactional structures, is increasingly becoming central to understanding culture, society, human experience, and the social world. It permeates our society’s practices, symbols, and shared meanings, and it makes old distinctions, such as the one between online and offline, real and virtual, and material and immaterial, obsolete. It also introduces digitally native objects of research, such as cyber-bullying and digital identities, which have a direct impact on mainstream sociological problems.

Digital Methods for Social Science

Digital Methods for Social Science
Author: Steven Roberts
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 329
Release: 2016-01-26
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1137453664

This timely book inspires researchers to deploy relevant, effective, innovative digital methods. It explores the relationship of such methods to 'mainstream' social science; interdisciplinarity; innovations in digital research tools; the opportunities (and challenges) of digital methods in researching social life; and digital research ethics.

Qualitative Research in Digital Environments

Qualitative Research in Digital Environments
Author: Alessandro Caliandro
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 241
Release: 2016-12-08
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1317282191

This book offers a toolkit of methods and technologies to undertake qualitative research on digital spaces. Unlike commonly used traditional methodological strategies, which are ‘retrofitted’ to digital spaces, Qualitative Research in Digital Environments offers researchers a set of ‘digitally native’ tools that are designed for online social environments. Thanks to a broad range of cases including Louis Vuitton, YouTube and the concept of ‘hipsterism’, this text illustrates the practical applications of techniques and tools over the most popular social media environments. This book will be a valuable guide to qualitative research for marketing students, researchers and practitioners, as well as a central reference point for tutors in the growing field of Digital Sociology.

Digital Media and Society

Digital Media and Society
Author: Simon Lindgren
Publisher: SAGE
Total Pages: 399
Release: 2017-05-27
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1473998891

What can flame-throwing squirrels tell us about human emotion? Can social media empower political activism? How has the internet changed the way we form our identities? Do algorithms have a social role? What is digital society? In the early 21st century, digital media and the social have become irreversibly intertwined. In this cutting-edge introduction, author Simon Lindgren explores what it means to live in a digital society. Neatly divided into three sections, Digital Media and Society expertly leads students through: Theories: from social media and cyber-optimism, to online social interaction and social change Topics: from emotion, participation and the public sphere, to the impact of data, software and mobile technology Tools: from digital ethnography, social network analysis and text-mining, to guidance on digital ethics and mixing methods With succinct explanations of key concepts and theories, practical exercises to aid understanding and application, and suggested further reading sections to guide students through the literature and enhance their own research, this is a must-have resource for all students of the digital society. Digital Media and Society is essential reading for undergraduate and postgraduate courses exploring digital media, social media, media and society, media sociology, and the Internet.

Innovations in Digital Research Methods

Innovations in Digital Research Methods
Author: Peter Halfpenny
Publisher: SAGE
Total Pages: 337
Release: 2015-05-18
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1473926955

Vast amounts of digital data are now generated daily by people as they go about their lives, yet social researchers are struggling to exploit it. At the same time, the challenges faced by society in the 21st century are growing ever more complex, and demands research that is bigger in scale, more collaborative and multi-disciplinary than ever before. This cutting-edge volume provides an accessible introduction to innovative digital social research tools and methods that harness this ‘data deluge’ and successfully tackle key research challenges. Contributions from leading international researchers cover topics such as: Qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods research Data management Social media and social network analysis Modeling and simulation Survey methods Visualizing social data Ethics and e-research The future of social research in the digital age This vibrant introduction to innovative digital research methods is essential reading for anyone conducting social research today.

Big Data in Computational Social Science and Humanities

Big Data in Computational Social Science and Humanities
Author: Shu-Heng Chen
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 391
Release: 2018-11-21
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 3319954652

This edited volume focuses on big data implications for computational social science and humanities from management to usage. The first part of the book covers geographic data, text corpus data, and social media data, and exemplifies their concrete applications in a wide range of fields including anthropology, economics, finance, geography, history, linguistics, political science, psychology, public health, and mass communications. The second part of the book provides a panoramic view of the development of big data in the fields of computational social sciences and humanities. The following questions are addressed: why is there a need for novel data governance for this new type of data?, why is big data important for social scientists?, and how will it revolutionize the way social scientists conduct research? With the advent of the information age and technologies such as Web 2.0, ubiquitous computing, wearable devices, and the Internet of Things, digital society has fundamentally changed what we now know as "data", the very use of this data, and what we now call "knowledge". Big data has become the standard in social sciences, and has made these sciences more computational. Big Data in Computational Social Science and Humanities will appeal to graduate students and researchers working in the many subfields of the social sciences and humanities.

Visual Methods for Digital Research

Visual Methods for Digital Research
Author: Sabine Niederer
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 146
Release: 2024-06-19
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 1509542566

Over the last decade, images have become a key feature of digital culture; at the same time, they have made a mark on a wide range of research practices. Visual Methods for Digital Research is the first textbook to bring the fields of visual methods and digital research together. Presenting visual methods for digital and participatory research, the book covers both the application of existing digital methods for image research and new visual methodologies developed specifically for digital research. It encompasses various approaches to studying digital images, including the distant reading of image collections, the close reading of visual vernaculars of social media platforms, and participatory research with visual materials. Offering a theoretical framework illustrated with hands-on techniques, Sabine Niederer and Gabriele Colombo provide compelling examples for studying online images through visual and digital means, and discuss critical data practices such as data feminism and digital methods for social and cultural research. This textbook is an accessible and invaluable guide for students and researchers of digital humanities, social sciences, information and communication design, critical data visualization and digital visual culture.