Bit by Bit: Social Research in the Digital Age

by Matthew J. Salganik

Overview

An innovative and accessible guide to doing social research in the digital age

The rapid spread of social media, smartphones, and other digital wonders enables us to collect and process data about human behavior on a scale never before imaginable, offering entirely new approaches to core questions about social behavior. Bit by Bit is the key to unlocking these powerful methods. In this authoritative and accessible book, Matthew Salganik explains how the digital revolution is transforming the way social scientists observe behavior, ask questions, run experiments, and engage in mass collaborations. Featuring a wealth of real-world examples and invaluable advice on how to tackle the thorniest ethical challenges, Bit by Bit is the essential guide to doing social research in this fast-evolving digital age.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780691196107
Publisher:	Princeton University Press
Publication date:	08/06/2019
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	448
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Matthew J. Salganik is professor of sociology at Princeton University, where he is also affiliated with the Center for Information Technology Policy and the Center for Statistics and Machine Learning.

Table of Contents

Preface xv

1 Introduction 1

2 Observing Behavior 13

3 Asking Questions 85

4 Running Experiments 147

5 Creating Mass Collaboration 231

6 Ethics 281

7 The Future 355

Acknowledgments 361

References 367

Index 413

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"An enticing and important field guide to the new frontier of digital social research."—Beth Simone Noveck, Forbes

"Salganik is one of the first natural-born computational social scientists. . . . The text is clearly written—even breezy, in parts. It puts the reader in the shoes of the researcher: What decisions were made, why, and were those the best choices? It is suitable for an advanced undergraduate or graduate class in methodology, with a rigorous, mathematical appendix and a range of useful problems at the conclusion of each chapter."—David Lazer, Science

"This is a book to return to time and again. . . . Bit by Bit should be widely read by those engaging in social research, as well as beyond."—Farida Vis, Times Higher Education

"A tremendously useful introduction for data scientists to the pressing questions of the social sciences, and for social scientists to the mindset and toolset of data science. With skill and scholarly insight, Salganik addresses the ethical questions that arise at the intersection of data science and social science."—Chris Wiggins, Columbia University

Editorial Reviews

"An enticing and important field guide to the new frontier of digital social research."—Beth Simone Noveck, Forbes


"Salganik is one of the first natural-born computational social scientists. . . . The text is clearly written—even breezy, in parts. It puts the reader in the shoes of the researcher: What decisions were made, why, and were those the best choices? It is suitable for an advanced undergraduate or graduate class in methodology, with a rigorous, mathematical appendix and a range of useful problems at the conclusion of each chapter."—David Lazer, Science


"This is a book to return to time and again. . . . Bit by Bit should be widely read by those engaging in social research, as well as beyond."—Farida Vis, Times Higher Education


"A tremendously useful introduction for data scientists to the pressing questions of the social sciences, and for social scientists to the mindset and toolset of data science. With skill and scholarly insight, Salganik addresses the ethical questions that arise at the intersection of data science and social science."—Chris Wiggins, Columbia University

From the Publisher