Interactional Expertise, Forms and The Imitation Game: The Integration of Chinese Migrants in Beijing Municipality

Abstract

This thesis focuses on The Imitation Game, a relatively new research method used in social sciences, which records qualitative and quantitative data. Derived from the “Turing test”, the technique consists of conducting experiments between the members of specific social groups with different characteristics and life experiences, such as blind and sighted, parents and non-parents, or sociologists and computer scientists. A sample from each group is invited to interact using software specifically designed for the method. The principal aim of this PhD thesis was to create a new version of the software with three objectives in mind: making the game more entertaining, improving the data reliability, and facilitating the organisation of experiments. A mobile version of the software, The Imitation Game 2.0, was created using Node.js and WebSocket technologies to attain these objectives.