What you'll learn
Research Design in Social Data Science
What you'll learn
Research Design in Social Data Science
Utilizing big data is becoming increasingly important in social research, but it brings an array of ethical challenges and research design elements to consider. On this course, you’ll gain an understanding of the emerging field of social data science and take your first steps into the big data-driven approach to research, learning from recent examples of social data science publications and projects.
This course will help learners to:
Understand the relationship between empirical research, theory generation and testing
Define and formulate research problems, questions and hypotheses to be tested
Understand the rationale for using qualitative or quantitative research methods and the integrated or complementary nature between different methods in mixed methods research designs
Understand different forms of sampling, sampling error, and case selection, and their potential implications when interpreting findings
Apply concepts of generalisability, validity, reliability, and replicability
Understand ethical aspects of social data science and how to cope with them
Language: English
Time to complete: 6 hours
Level: Beginner
Instructor
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How to access:
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Course modules
Course modules
There are 5 modules in this course:
1. What is social data science?
In this module you will be introduced to social data science and be familiarized with both social data science and scientific methods.
2. How do you determine the design elements and data sources of a research project?
In this module you will learn how to determine the main parameters of a research project including boundaries, scale and time resolution of your research, what big data is, how it differs to traditional data collection and what consent refers to.
3. What methods can we use in social data science?
In this module you will become familiarized with the toolset of social data science, covering both quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods.
4. What can be learnt from your research?
In this module you will learn to develop research questions and hypotheses, be familiarized with validity, reproducibility, replicability and generalisability.
5. What is ethical social data science?
In this module you will be familiarized with the main ethical challenges in social data science and how to cope with them.
Who it's for
Who it's for
Who it’s for
The course is introductory so no prior knowledge of social data science is required. However, it requires some familiarity with social science research.
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Try the course
Try the course
Try it out
Students, researchers and faculty can try all Sage Campus courses today by signing up for a 7-day free trial below. 30-day institutional trials are set up via your institution’s library, so recommend us to your library to request a campus-wide trial.
FAQs
FAQs
Frequently asked questions
How is the course structured?
The course contains 5 modules and it’s recommended that they are followed sequentially, however, the modules are self-contained and you may decide to skip if preferred.
Do I need any software to complete this course?
No specific software is needed to take this course. You simply need a laptop or PC and an internet connection.
Do learners get a certificate?
All of our courses offer a certificate of completion signed by your instructor. You will be able to download this certificate, from the Learning Platform, when you complete the course.
Is the course theoretical and conceptual or are exercise based?
The course is primarily conceptual, however, there are many hands-on examples, thought experiments and exercises.
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