Seminar (B.A. / M.A.)- Quantitative Social Research in the Digital Age
Social research has been undergoing a transformation for some time now. With the commercialization of the internet and the emergence of Web 2.0, storage capacities and computing power have grown exponentially. One result of this development is the integration of the internet, the digitization of information, and algorithms into our daily lives. This new era of digital data and the internet presents exciting opportunities for social scientists, such as tracking behavioral data or conducting large-scale web experiments involving thousands of people. In particular, quantitative social research has become cheaper, faster, and more diverse.
At the same time, these new possibilities also pose various dangers and pitfalls for social scientists. This includes issues such as data quality, ethical concerns regarding privacy and consent, as well as simply lacking knowledge of software and coding.This course aims to provide an introduction to the topic of quantitative research design in the digital age. We will not focus on statistically analyzing data, but rather conceptually explore the various ways to study social phenomena and develop appropriate research designs. Throughout the semester, we will read and discuss texts that do exactly that, covering a wide range of methods and substantive topics. In particular, we will review classic research methods (surveys, observational data, experiments, etc.) and discuss how these can be adapted in the new era.
The Seminar is offered in two different levels, Master and Bachelor.
You find an examplary syllabus of the B.A. Version here: Syllabus