Web social science: concepts, data and tools for social scientists in the digital age

Abstract

This book provides readers with a comprehensive guide to the theory and practice of Web Social Science. It demonstrates how the Web is being used to collect social research data, such as online surveys and interviews, as well as digital trace data from social media environments, such as Facebook and Twitter. It also illuminates how the advent of the Web has led to traditional social science concepts and approaches being combined with those from other scientific disciplines, leading to new insights into social, political and economic behaviour. Situating social sciences in the Digital Age, this book gives you the opportunity to: - understanding of the fundamental changes to society, politics and the economy that have resulted from the advent of the web - choice of appropriate data, tools and research methods for conducting research using web data - learning how web data are providing new insights into long-standing social science research questions - appreciation of how social science can facilitate an understanding of life in the Digital Age Original and timely, this book will be of immense value for students and researchers throughout the social sciences. It will also be an important resource for students and researchers from information science, computer science and engineering who want to learn about how social scientists are thinking about and researching the Web.