Building a Model for Integrative Computational Social Science Research

Abstract

Universities are increasingly interested in providing courses that equip students with data science skills and engage experiential learning, particularly in the social sciences. However, these courses can be costly to implement and time-consuming for instructors to develop. This article describes an integrative learning model for teaching computational social science skills to undergraduate students. There are three elements to the model: content delivery through collaborative learning, skill development in an applied lab setting, and student mentorship. I apply this model to an experiential course where undergraduate students learn to create and conduct a national public opinion poll. The model addresses the need for university classes that equip undergraduate students with computational social science skills, and provides a pathway for training student researchers as teaching assistants for future courses. This model builds the research capacity of faculty, graduate assistants, and undergraduates, invests in data science by providing an infrastructure for the collection of large scale data over time, and integrates experiences inside and outside of the classroom. This model is replicable at other institutions and will be of benefit to programs seeking to implement best practices and maximize learning effectiveness through research integration.

Keywords:

• Big data
• computational social science
• data literacy
• survey research
• undergraduate research

Acknowledgement

I am grateful for support from the Brandeis University Provost’s Teaching Innovation Grant, which funded the original student-designed survey research. I am also grateful for insight from Daniel Kryder, Mary-Ann Winkelmes, and others whose perspectives aided the development of this course.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 This research is approved by Brandeis University Institutional Review Board under protocol #20007 R-E.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Amber Spry

Dr. Amber D. Spry is an Assistant Professor in the Department of African and African American Studies and an affiliate in the Department of Politics at Brandeis University. Her research and teaching examine the role of social identity in shaping political attitudes and behaviors in the United States. Dr. Spry’s current book in progress is titled The Identity Inventory: What group ties can (and can’t) tell us about politics.