In this Social Science Bites podcast, MIT’s Sandy Pentland tells interviewer Dave Edmonds about the origins of social physics in the barren days before the advent of widespread good data and solid statistical methods and how it blossomed as both a field and for Pentland’s own research.
How will social science research and teaching evolve to meet the challenges and opportunities big data creates? How can we bring down barriers to make this new computational social science accessible for all social researchers? That was the subject of a panel discussion at last month’s ESRC Festival of Social Sciences 2016.
SAGE Publishing surveyed social scientists around the world to learn more about who engages in research using ‘big data,’ and what challenges they face as well as the barriers facing those who are interested in conducting computational social science going forward.
A new survey shoots down the idea that early-career researchers aresomehow more likely to be digital natives and therefore more apt to conduct computational social science than those whose PhDs were issued more than a decade ago.
Political scientists Gary King has called on the policymakers and government officials in the audience to consider enacting a ‘treaty’ on the collection, retention, access and sharing of big data that could serve the needs of the academic world, the commercial world and government while protecting the interests of the public.
Mylynn Felt, author of a popular paper on social media and the social sciences, hopes to see a growing blend of established qualitative techniques with newly emerging big data research methods in future social science work.
Even if you say you don’t mind the government knowing what you do on social media, recent research suggests you tamp down your own opinions when reminded of the possibility of being found out.
Computers have revolutionized academic research – and at the same time created a new crop of problems. But, suggests Ben Marwick, computers can also help address some of the challenges they have created.
Drawing on discussions with academics who have oriented their work around public engagement and social impact, Daniel Pearson suggests these academics present an opportunity to rethink the existing structures of reward and recognition in higher education. “We are, as a species, addicted to story,” says English professor Jonathan Gottschall in his book, The Storytelling Animal. “Even when the […] Tom Burns, whose combination of play — and plays – with teaching in higher education added a light, collaborative and engaging model […] A 2024 report by the National Academies explores the latest advances in artificial intelligence (AI) technology and their potential effects on economic productivity, job stability, and income inequality. It also highlights key research opportunities and data needs to help workers and policymakers adapt to the evolving AI landscape. In this post, co-authors Frank T. Piller, Tucker J. Marion, and Mahdi Srour reflect on the inspiration behind their research article, “Generative […] During the final stages of editing the proofs for Artificial Intelligence and Work: Transforming Work, Organizations, and Society in an Age of Insecurity, […]
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Impact
Young Scholars Can’t Take the Field in Game of Academic Metrics
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Canada’s Storytellers Challenge Seeks Compelling Narratives About Student Research
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Tom Burns, 1959-2024: A Pioneer in Learning Development
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Innovation
NAS Report Examines Nexus of AI and Workplace
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When Do You Need to Trust a GenAI’s Input to Your Innovation Process?
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The Authors of ‘Artificial Intelligence and Work’ on Future Risk
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