Open-Source’s Inspirations for Computational Social Science: Lessons from a Failed Analysis
Autor(a) principal: | |
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Data de Publicação: | 2020 |
Tipo de documento: | Artigo |
Idioma: | eng |
Título da fonte: | Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) |
Texto Completo: | https://doi.org/10.17645/mac.v8i3.3163 |
Resumo: | The questions we can ask currently, building on decades of research, call for advanced methods and understanding. We now have large, complex data sets that require more than complex statistical analysis to yield human answers. Yet as some researchers have pointed out, we also have challenges, especially in computational social science. In a recent project I faced several such challenges and eventually realized that the relevant issues were familiar to users of free and open-source software. I needed a team with diverse skills and knowledge to tackle methods, theories, and topics. We needed to iterate over the entire project: from the initial theories to the data to the methods to the results. We had to understand how to work when some data was freely available but other data that might benefit the research was not. More broadly, computational social scientists may need creative solutions to slippery problems, such as restrictions imposed by terms of service for sites from which we wish to gather data. Are these terms legal, are they enforced, or do our institutional review boards care? Lastly—perhaps most importantly and dauntingly—we may need to challenge laws relating to digital data and access, although so far this conflict has been rare. Can we succeed as open-source advocates have? |
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Open-Source’s Inspirations for Computational Social Science: Lessons from a Failed Analysiscomputational social science; fandom; games; online community; open source; RedditThe questions we can ask currently, building on decades of research, call for advanced methods and understanding. We now have large, complex data sets that require more than complex statistical analysis to yield human answers. Yet as some researchers have pointed out, we also have challenges, especially in computational social science. In a recent project I faced several such challenges and eventually realized that the relevant issues were familiar to users of free and open-source software. I needed a team with diverse skills and knowledge to tackle methods, theories, and topics. We needed to iterate over the entire project: from the initial theories to the data to the methods to the results. We had to understand how to work when some data was freely available but other data that might benefit the research was not. More broadly, computational social scientists may need creative solutions to slippery problems, such as restrictions imposed by terms of service for sites from which we wish to gather data. Are these terms legal, are they enforced, or do our institutional review boards care? Lastly—perhaps most importantly and dauntingly—we may need to challenge laws relating to digital data and access, although so far this conflict has been rare. Can we succeed as open-source advocates have?Cogitatio2020-08-13info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersioninfo:eu-repo/semantics/articleapplication/pdfhttps://doi.org/10.17645/mac.v8i3.3163oai:ojs.cogitatiopress.com:article/3163Media and Communication; Vol 8, No 3 (2020): Computational Approaches to Media Entertainment Research; 231-2382183-2439reponame:Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)instname:Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informaçãoinstacron:RCAAPenghttps://www.cogitatiopress.com/mediaandcommunication/article/view/3163https://doi.org/10.17645/mac.v8i3.3163https://www.cogitatiopress.com/mediaandcommunication/article/view/3163/3163Copyright (c) 2020 Nathaniel Poorhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessPoor, Nathaniel2022-12-20T10:58:44Zoai:ojs.cogitatiopress.com:article/3163Portal AgregadorONGhttps://www.rcaap.pt/oai/openaireopendoar:71602024-03-19T16:21:07.162671Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) - Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informaçãofalse |
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv |
Open-Source’s Inspirations for Computational Social Science: Lessons from a Failed Analysis |
title |
Open-Source’s Inspirations for Computational Social Science: Lessons from a Failed Analysis |
spellingShingle |
Open-Source’s Inspirations for Computational Social Science: Lessons from a Failed Analysis Poor, Nathaniel computational social science; fandom; games; online community; open source; Reddit |
title_short |
Open-Source’s Inspirations for Computational Social Science: Lessons from a Failed Analysis |
title_full |
Open-Source’s Inspirations for Computational Social Science: Lessons from a Failed Analysis |
title_fullStr |
Open-Source’s Inspirations for Computational Social Science: Lessons from a Failed Analysis |
title_full_unstemmed |
Open-Source’s Inspirations for Computational Social Science: Lessons from a Failed Analysis |
title_sort |
Open-Source’s Inspirations for Computational Social Science: Lessons from a Failed Analysis |
author |
Poor, Nathaniel |
author_facet |
Poor, Nathaniel |
author_role |
author |
dc.contributor.author.fl_str_mv |
Poor, Nathaniel |
dc.subject.por.fl_str_mv |
computational social science; fandom; games; online community; open source; Reddit |
topic |
computational social science; fandom; games; online community; open source; Reddit |
description |
The questions we can ask currently, building on decades of research, call for advanced methods and understanding. We now have large, complex data sets that require more than complex statistical analysis to yield human answers. Yet as some researchers have pointed out, we also have challenges, especially in computational social science. In a recent project I faced several such challenges and eventually realized that the relevant issues were familiar to users of free and open-source software. I needed a team with diverse skills and knowledge to tackle methods, theories, and topics. We needed to iterate over the entire project: from the initial theories to the data to the methods to the results. We had to understand how to work when some data was freely available but other data that might benefit the research was not. More broadly, computational social scientists may need creative solutions to slippery problems, such as restrictions imposed by terms of service for sites from which we wish to gather data. Are these terms legal, are they enforced, or do our institutional review boards care? Lastly—perhaps most importantly and dauntingly—we may need to challenge laws relating to digital data and access, although so far this conflict has been rare. Can we succeed as open-source advocates have? |
publishDate |
2020 |
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv |
2020-08-13 |
dc.type.status.fl_str_mv |
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion |
dc.type.driver.fl_str_mv |
info:eu-repo/semantics/article |
format |
article |
status_str |
publishedVersion |
dc.identifier.uri.fl_str_mv |
https://doi.org/10.17645/mac.v8i3.3163 oai:ojs.cogitatiopress.com:article/3163 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.17645/mac.v8i3.3163 |
identifier_str_mv |
oai:ojs.cogitatiopress.com:article/3163 |
dc.language.iso.fl_str_mv |
eng |
language |
eng |
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv |
https://www.cogitatiopress.com/mediaandcommunication/article/view/3163 https://doi.org/10.17645/mac.v8i3.3163 https://www.cogitatiopress.com/mediaandcommunication/article/view/3163/3163 |
dc.rights.driver.fl_str_mv |
Copyright (c) 2020 Nathaniel Poor http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
rights_invalid_str_mv |
Copyright (c) 2020 Nathaniel Poor http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 |
eu_rights_str_mv |
openAccess |
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv |
application/pdf |
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv |
Cogitatio |
publisher.none.fl_str_mv |
Cogitatio |
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv |
Media and Communication; Vol 8, No 3 (2020): Computational Approaches to Media Entertainment Research; 231-238 2183-2439 reponame:Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) instname:Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informação instacron:RCAAP |
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Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informação |
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RCAAP |
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RCAAP |
reponame_str |
Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) |
collection |
Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) |
repository.name.fl_str_mv |
Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) - Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informação |
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1799130658105196544 |