CSOC10010

This module provides an introduction to key concepts in computational social science (CSOC). It describes how CSOC builds on traditional social science and how it transcends it. Students will learn about: (i) the distinct type of problems CSOC addresses, the data it employs, and the explanations it produces, and (ii) the role that CSOC has played in the development of new methods (for example, computer simulation) and alternative approaches to standard methods (for example, experiments) in the social sciences.

The first two weeks offer an overview of the theoretical-methodological framework of CSOC. The following weeks cover six popular methods (one each week) that deal in distinctive ways with qualitative, quantitative, and also synthetic data. This will be done through various contexts, e.g.: design of experiments, approaches to computer simulation, network analysis techniques, text mining, and spatial analysis. The ethical practice of CSOC is discussed last and, when appropriate, also within the previous weeks focused on different methods.

Topics will be covered combining lectures with a variety of practical class activities. Students are encouraged to prepare and actively participate in both.