SOS2920 ¨C Introduction to Digital Research Methods

Course content

An ever larger part of our time and our social and professional lives takes place on the internet. This goes for our love lifes, for our interaction with friends and acquaintances, and for our participation in democratic and public debate; it goes for our relation to the politicians we elect, our use of news media and our search for knowledge and information; just as it goes for our interests in fashion hobbies or culture.

Due to this increasing digitalization of social life, these communicative exchanges and interaction patterns are often retrievable and open to analysis with digital means. This opens up new social scientific and empirical possibilities, which a new field of "digital methods" seeks to exploit. This new field of digital methods - possessing its own degree of strengths and weaknesses - has begun to take shape between traditional quantitative and qualitative conceptions of method.

This course provides a basic introduction to the field of digital methods for undergraduate students. It requires no coding or programming skills or prior experience with digital research tools, and no experience with statistics. It centers on hands-on exercises and mini-projects to explore the potential utility and versatility of a broad range of analytical tools. The course teaches students to extract text and interaction data from the Internet, including important social media platforms, and to visualise and analyse these data in novel ways and with novel means. The course will considerably augment the student¡¯s range of means to access and analyse empirical material more generally: it is meant to generate competences which can be of use to complement and nuance virtually any social scientific investigation (in tandem, or not, with traditional methods). The course also touches upon more theoretical aspects and discussions associated with digital sociology and the use of digital methods, including theories about how (social) media frames and informs interaction, about the relationship between the digital and the social, and about the ethical implications and problems of digital research. Yet, it focuses on the development of technical skills and upon gaining familiarity with the software tools introduced during the course.

Enrolled students should prepare for possible frustrations regarding the functioning of the software tools used in the course. The fast-changing landscape of the Internet and the changing strategies of major social media platforms create a number of difficulties.

IMPORTANT! All students need to commit to working in groups of 3-5 during the semester. If you are not prepared to engage in group work, this course is not for you. These groups will be formed by the instructors during the first month of the course, and barring exceptional circumstances, they will remain stable throughout the course. Importantly, students will take their final exam in these groups (see below).

The course is open for both students of siciology and human geography.

Learning outcome

Learning Objectives

At the end of the course, students will

• Have experience with (freely accessible) software tools permitting extraction and analysis of interaction data and text from internet sites and important social media platforms
• Have knowledge about the distinct nature of digital research methods and how they differ from and may complement conventional methods (qualitative and quantitative)
• Be capable of reflecting on the ethical challenges associated with digital methods and develop responsible research strategies
• Have insight into the main theories as to how digital media and their designs perform social action and affect social experience online as well as more broadly
• Have gained acquaintance with the main themes of digital sociology and digital social science more generally

Admission to the course

Students who are admitted to study programmes at UiO must each semester register which courses and exams they wish to sign up for in Studentweb.

If you are not already enrolled as a student at UiO, please see our information about admission requirements and procedures.

Teaching

Number of lectures

The course entails 2 two-hour lectures and 4 four-hour lectures / combined exercises.?

In addition:

All students are required to attend a term paper preparation workshop, where they will develop their exam project, in groups or individually.

In addition to the obligatory assignment, we will offer a number of voluntary?assignments, which are tied to specific lectures and support the students¡¯ learning.

Software Installations

All students will have to install a number of software tools before course start. Enrolled students should pay due notice to messages in Canvas before the first lecture.

Examination

Term paper

The final evaluation will consist of a term paper (produced in a group or individually). Students will be encouraged to complete the term paper in the same groups they have worked in throughout the course.?

• Guidelines for the group exam in SOSGEO2920

Each individual/group will develop their term paper project (description) during the preparation workshop at the end of the semester. Helped by the instructors. Each individual/group will write a synopsis about their project (max 200 words) during the workshop.

Grading: The paper will be graded "passed"/"not passed". All members of a group will receive the same grade. Please note that individual appeals and complaints can result in a different grade for the appealing/complaining student.

Language of examination

The examination text is given in English, and you submit your response in English or a Scandinavian language.

More about examinations at UiO

• Use of sources and citations
• Special exam arrangements due to individual needs
• Withdrawal from an exam
• Illness at exams / postponed exams
• Explanation of grades and appeals
• Resitting an exam
• Cheating/attempted cheating

You will find further guides and resources at the web page on examinations at UiO.