Skip to main content

Google Data & Social Sciences, ideas from Seth Stephens-Davidowitz

The last post concluded with the topic of  Big Data, New Data in reference to Seth Stephens-Davidowitz book "Everybody Lies: Big Data, New Data, and What the Internet Can Tell Us About Who We Really Are" (featured in a NPR episode of Hidden Brain).

In digesting the assertions made with his book, I have been questioning the methods he used; it is important to question the validity and reliability of any findings after all. Especially insofar as confirmation bias is a feature of perception to contend with!

I just got the book in the mail and look forward to reading it. Stephen-Davidowitz offers much of his research on his website, he and Hal Varian even have a piece available there discussing ways for social scientists to make use of Google data called "Google Trends: A Primer for Social Scientists"

Another note: Facebook has a whole segment of their site dedicated to Privacy Settings including information about their Data Policy.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

"Death & Grief in the Digital Age" from Social Work Podcast

The  Social Work Podcast  is a wealth of information. In particular, I'd like to draw attention to their February podcast on Death and Grief in the Digital Age: Interview with Carla Sofka, Ph.D. There are a number of points I'd like to spend time with and highlight in this post, as per usual this post is initially in a "notes to self" kind of form... To be updated in hopes it proves useful to others. Consider: Technological advanced directives and digital dust Just as there is sex education in schools, consider death education (see: Tu Nudito ) Dr. Sofka "also recommends including technology assessment in the standard biopsychosocialspiritual assessment" Ding, ding, ding, all these comments excited me as they rang so true... I've been thinking along the same lines for some time now and it's awesome to hear others feel the same. Below is a rough sketch of just such an assessment, I had the idea several months ago and just began actually wri...
3 comments
Read more

Reflections & Excerpts

Finishing my degree with independent studies, satisfying remaining electives, was a great opportunity to apply and synthesize my learning throughout the Masters of Social Work (MSW) program. My proposed studies were both focused on the intersection of social work and new technology. In light of choosing the concentration in Policy/Planning, Administration, and Community (PAC) and my interests in new technologies and social media, I wanted to consider macro implications and innovations. Below are some excerpts from the cumulative paper I wrote for my independent studies. Introduction New technologies actively change the face of social work research, education, and practice. In fact, in the United States, there are few societal domains untouched by the information age and digital revolution, which is regularly redefined by emergent technologies. Social media and apps (which intertwine with the devices that animate them) are particularly disruptive innovations that both advance the fi...
Post a Comment
Read more

Ethical Questions and Ideas About New Tech

This post reflects on my findings today on the subject of humanity in the information age... Mostly written as notes to self for later reference. "There's Not an App for That" The book "There's Not an App for That" (Robinson et al., 2015) offers a conversational review of the state of technology today as it relates to humanity and delineates the problems and opportunities being presented. From my cursory look at the content, I decided to order the book. I followed a lead from the introduction to Bret Victor's brief rant, which took me down one of the many rabbit holes of the day. I did not spend too long with Bret's rant or website ( www.worrydream.com ) but long enough to see his genius and make a note of his impressive leadership in programming and innovation in design. Citation: Robinson, S., Marsden, G., Jones, M., & Safari Books Online (Firm). (2015;2014;). There's not an app for that: Mobile user experience design for life. Walth...
2 comments
Read more