Data Science Applications in Political and Social Research

Catalog description

The advent of computers and the internet have fundamentally changed how most humans conduct their social, political, and everyday lives. Unlike mere decades ago, many of us work, play, learn, communicate with friends and family, and engage in other social, political, and economic behavior online. The digital traces these activities leave behind has created a new world of data for researchers to mine in virtually every field that studies humans and human behavior, from health outcomes to election outcomes. This course is focused on data science applications in political science and public policy research specifically, and in social science research more broadly. It aims to build students' familiarity with the intersection between data science and political/social science. Toward that aim, this course has three main areas of focus:a) Exploring how the digital era has impacted how research in political/social science is conceptualized, designed, and implemented b)Digging into recent political science research that has applied novel data science approaches c)Building important skills in data collection, processing, and analysis from online sources, with a focus on how new sources of data and new techniques can add value to existing research questions in the field. (GOVT-CP)