Summer Institute in Computational Social Science (June 18 to July 1, 2017)
From the evening of Sunday, June 18 to the morning of Saturday, July 1, 2017, the Russell Sage Foundation will sponsor the first Summer Institute in Computational Social Science, to be held at Princeton University. The purpose of the Summer Institute is to introduce graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and beginning faculty to computational social science. The Summer Institute is for both social scientists (broadly conceived) and data scientists (broadly conceived). The co-organizers and principal faculty of the Summer Institute are Christopher Bail and Matthew Salganik.
The instructional program will involve lectures, group problem sets, and student-led research projects. There will also be outside speakers who conduct computational social science research in academia, industry, and government. Topics covered include text as data, website scraping, digital field experiments, non-probability sampling, mass collaboration, and ethics. There will be ample opportunities for students to discuss their ideas and research with the organizers, other participants, and visiting speakers. Because we are committed to open and reproducible research, all materials created by faculty and students for the Summer Institute will be released open source.
Participation is restricted to Ph.D. students, postdoctoral researchers, and untenured faculty within 7 years of their Ph.D. Most participant costs during the workshop, including housing and most meals, will be covered, and most travel expenses will be reimbursed up to a set cap. About thirty participants will be invited. Participants with less experience with social science research will be expected to complete additional readings in advance of the Institute, and participants with less experience coding will be expected to complete a set of online learning modules on the R programming language. Students doing this preparatory work will be supported by a teaching assistant who will hold online office hours during the two months before the Institute.
Schedule
Before arrival
In order to use our time together effectively, students will be expected to complete some preparatory work. We will post these materials here soon.
Sunday June 18, 2017
Opening Dinner
Monday June 19, 2017 - Introduction and Ethics
What is Computational Social Science?
Ethics: Principles-based approach
Four areas of difficulty: informed consent, informational risk, privacy, and making decisions in the face of uncertainty
Problem set
Dinner & discussion
Tuesday June 20, 2017 - Collecting “Big” Data
What is big data?
Strengths and weakness of big data
Screen-Scraping
Application Programming Interfaces
Problem Set
Dinner & Discussion
Wednesday June 21, 2017 - Text as data
Dictionary-Based Approaches
Cluster Analysis
Topic Models
Network-Based Text Analysis
Problem set
Dinner & Discussion
Thursday June 22, 2017 - Surveys
Introduction to total survey error
Probability and non-probability sampling
New approaches to measurement
Linking surveys and big data
Developing apps for survey research
Problem set
Dinner & Discussion
Friday June 23, 2017 - Experiments
Why experiments
Moving beyond simple experiments
Four strategies for experiments
Problem set
Dinner & Discussion
Saturday June 24, 2017 - Mass Collaboration
Why mass collaboration?
Human computation
Open call
Distributed data collection
Design advice
Problem set
Dinner & Discussion
Sunday June 25, 2017 - Go to New York
Monday June 26, 2017 - Work on projects
Tuesday June 27, 2017 - Work on projects
Wednesday June 28, 2017 - Work on projects
Thursday June 29, 2017 - Work on projects
Friday June 30, 2017 - Present final projects
Saturday July 1, 2017
Students depart
Eligibility
Participation is restricted to Ph.D. students, postdoctoral researchers, and untenured faculty within 7 years of their Ph.D. Most participant costs during the workshop, including housing and most meals, will be covered, and most travel expenses will be reimbursed up to a set cap. About thirty participants will be invited. Participants with less experience with social science research will be expected to complete additional readings in advance of the Institute, and participants with less experience coding will be expected to complete a set of online learning modules on the R programming language. Students doing this preparatory work will be supported by a teaching assistant who will hold online office hours during the two months before the Institute.
How to Apply
There is no application form or program information beyond this Announcement. To apply, send (i) a curriculum vitae, (ii) a statement (maximum three pages) describing both any current research and your interest in computational social science (especially as it relates to RSF research priorities such as behavioral economics, social inequality, future of work, and immigration), (iii) one writing sample (no more than 35 pages), and (iv) for graduate students and postdoctoral researchers, two letters of recommendation from faculty advisors. Letters of recommendation should be as informative as possible about your standing in your program, general ability, research potential, and (if applicable) special interest in computational social science. All applications must include an e-mail and an alternative means of contact (e.g., phone number). Send your CV, statement, and writing sample (all collapsed into a single pdf file) to rsfcompsocsci@gmail.com. Ask your recommenders to send their letters to the same email address, with the following subject line: RSF recommendation letter for APPLICANT NAME.
We anticipate a large pool of highly qualified applicants and to make final decisions quickly, so applications and letters must be received by the deadline. Complete applications, including letters of recommendation, must be received by Friday, February 24. We will notify applicants solely through e-mail, by Friday, March 10 and will ask participants to confirm their participation very soon thereafter. Inquiries can be sent to rsfcompsocsci@gmail.com.
For more information click "Further official information" below.
This opportunity has expired. It was originally published here:
https://compsocialscience.github.io/summer-institute/2017/