Digital Sociology: Big Data and Social Science

Eventually during this master's program I will need to solidify a research question and base it within a culture of inquiry and theoretical framework.

Right. *insert confused look here*

All of this means that I need to gain a better understanding of such cultures and frameworks and the next few posts will be dedicated to such discovery and learning.

Let's establish a little context before getting into the meat of the topic.

What is science? What makes it social science? What do we mean by digital? What is big data?

Bhattacherjee (2012) refers to science as "a systematic and organized body of knowledge in any area of inquiry that is acquired using 'the scientific method' (p. 1). He goes on to describe social science as "the science of people or collections of people, such as...societies or economies, and their individual or collective behaviours" (Bhattacherjee, 2012, p. 1).

By digital we are identifying the technologies that, over the past three decades, have permeated everyday life in developed countries (Lupton, 2015). Lupton (2015) adds that "for some theorists, the very ideas of 'culture' or 'society' cannot now be fully understood without the recognition that computer software and hardware devices not only underpin but actively constitute self-hood, embodiment, social life, social relations and social institutions" (p. 2).

I recently re-activated my Twitter account (@kristinjenna8) and on day three I was "followed" by @BigDataBlogs and messaged by @ApacheIngnite. Both of whom are all about #BigData...and although I had a good idea as to what the phrase means, I did a quick Google search (as you do) to make sure. So what is big data? I liked the definition of big data on Gartner Inc.'s website. It states that big data is "high-volume, high-velocity, and high-variety information assets that demand cost-effective, innovative forms of information processing for enhanced insight and decision making" (Gartner Inc., 2013).

What then is digital sociology exactly? Lupton (2012) discerns that it is "used to refer to conducting 'e-research' using digitalized data sets that may be shared collaboratively using digital platforms" (Analyzing Digital Data, para. 1).

Digital sociology researchers have a big job - pun intended. With the vast amounts of data available in the public domain it is finding out ways to harness, analyze, and utilize it. Technology is going to continue to allow us to gain information that was, up until a not too ago, impossible to even comprehend.

Researchers access to big data has it positives and negatives. Remember back in 2012 when Facebook manipulated content in 700,000 user's news feeds in order to collect evidence on emotions and the spreading of them (Newton, 2014).

There are, however, a lot of good that come out of the social sciences moving into the digital realm. Social science researchers "can offer a means by which the impact, development, and use of technologies and their impact upon and incorporation into social worlds and concepts of self-hood may be investigated, analyzed, and understood" (Lupton, 2012, The Importance of Critique, para. 2).

Qualitative or Quantitative?

When gathering evidence a researcher could use qualitative - ethnographic research, quantitative - surveys and content analysis, or mixed method (Lupton, 2011). With the addition of big data the sample groups can go from relatively small in number to mass numbers, allowing for more diversity. This, in turn, makes the results more relevant to society as a whole instead of a specific context/culture.

What types of topics are covered in digital sociology?

Research can cover many social issues including "the use of health-related websites for patient support and information sharing..., how people of ethnic minority groups represent themselves online, and the articulation and organization of online activism...on social networking sits such as Facebook just to name a few" (Lupton, 2011, How People use Digital Media, para. 2).

It seems as though the opportunities to utilize social science research in our digital world are endless. Gaining insight into human behviour both on an individual and group level gives a vast amount of insight which, when analyzed properly, can lead to deeper understandings. Understandings that can help to not only help to influence decisions, but as well as effect meaningful change.

References

Bhattacherjee, A. (2012). Social science research: Principles, methods. Scholar Commons. Retrieved from http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/oa_textbooks/3

Gartner. (2013). Big data. IT Glossary. Retrieved from http://www.gartner.com/it-glossary/big-data

Lupton, D. (2011). Examination of digital technologies must become central to social science research [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2012/07/31/digital-technologies-social-science-research/

Lupton, D. (2012). Digital Sociology [Web log post]. Retrieved from https://storify.com/DALupton/digital-sociology-2

Lupton, D. (2015). Digital Sociology. New York: Routledge.

Newton, J. (2014, July 3). Facebook finally apoligises. The Daily Mail. Retrieved from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2679115/Facebook-finally-apologises-secretly-manipulating-nearly-1m-peoples-accounts-huge-psychology-experiment.html



Image retrieved from: http://www.ekantipur.com/the-kathmandu-post/2012/12/22/free-the-words/collegium-of-fellows/243204.html

Image retrieved from: http://olap.com/big-data/