Topic
Digital sociology
About: Digital sociology is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 146 publications have been published within this topic receiving 6485 citations.
Papers
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TL;DR: The era of Big Data has begun as discussed by the authors, where diverse groups argue about the potential benefits and costs of analyzing genetic sequences, social media interactions, health records, phone logs, government records, and other digital traces left by people.
Abstract: The era of Big Data has begun. Computer scientists, physicists, economists, mathematicians, political scientists, bio-informaticists, sociologists, and other scholars are clamoring for access to the massive quantities of information produced by and about people, things, and their interactions. Diverse groups argue about the potential benefits and costs of analyzing genetic sequences, social media interactions, health records, phone logs, government records, and other digital traces left by people. Significant questions emerge. Will large-scale search data help us create better tools, services, and public goods? Or will it usher in a new wave of privacy incursions and invasive marketing? Will data analytics help us understand online communities and political movements? Or will it be used to track protesters and suppress speech? Will it transform how we study human communication and culture, or narrow the palette of research options and alter what ‘research’ means? Given the rise of Big Data as a socio-tech...
3,955 citations
TL;DR: The authors argue that both the sample survey and the in-depth interview are increasingly dated research methods, which are unlikely to provide a robust base for the jurisdiction of empirical sociologists in coming decades.
Abstract: This ar ticle argues that in an age of knowing capitalism, sociologists have not adequately thought about the challenges posed to their expertise by the proliferation of `social' transactional data which are now routinely collected, processed and analysed by a wide variety of private and public institutions. Drawing on British examples, we argue that whereas over the past 40 years sociologists championed innovative methodological resources, notably the sample survey and the in-depth interviews, which reasonably allowed them to claim distinctive expertise to access the `social' in powerful ways, such claims are now much less secure. We argue that both the sample survey and the in-depth interview are increasingly dated research methods, which are unlikely to provide a robust base for the jurisdiction of empirical sociologists in coming decades. We conclude by speculating how sociology might respond to this coming crisis through taking up new interests in the `politics of method'.
781 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors highlight the significance of the blogosphere as a new addition to the qualitative researcher's toolkit and some of the practical, theoretical and methodological issues that arise from this.
Abstract: Since 1999 blogs have become a significant feature of online culture. They have been heralded as the new guardians of democracy, a revolutionary form of bottom-up news production and a new way of constructing self and doing community in late-modern times. In this article I highlight the significance of the 'blogosphere' as a new addition to the qualitative researcher's toolkit and some of the practical, theoretical and methodological issues that arise from this. Some of the key ethical issues involved in blog data collection are also considered. The research context is a project on everyday understandings and experiences of morality.
628 citations
TL;DR: A number of ways in which digital data in education could be questioned along social lines are outlined, including issues of data inequalities, the role of data in managerialist modes of organisation and control, the rise of so-called ‘dataveillance' and the reductionist nature of data-based representation.
Abstract: The generation and processing of data through digital technologies is an integral element of contemporary society, as reflected in recent debates over online data privacy, ‘Big Data’ and the rise of data mining and analytics in business, science and government This paper outlines the significance of digital data within education, arguing for increased interest in the topic from educational researchers Building on themes from the emerging sub-field of ‘digital sociology’, the paper outlines a number of ways in which digital data in education could be questioned along social lines These include issues of data inequalities, the role of data in managerialist modes of organisation and control, the rise of so-called ‘dataveillance' and the reductionist nature of data-based representation The paper concludes with a set of suggestions for future research and discussion, thus outlining the beginnings of a framework for the future critical study of digital data and education
209 citations
TL;DR: Jackie Greenfield has chosen to shift her career toward popular writing, on topics on which she has not done original research, while trading on her status as a scientist.
Abstract: Online attacks on Greenfield have at times seemed personal. She has also been criticized for promoting her ideas publicly and not subjecting them to professional scrutiny. Competing philosophies are at play about the public role of scientists. Greenfield has chosen to shift her career toward popular writing, on topics on which she has not done original research, while trading on her status as a scientist. Should her book therefore be dismissed completely? No. Is this practice good for science and society, and do the circumstances in this case justify it? Reasonable people could disagree.
181 citations