Political Behavior and Big Data

Abstract

Interest in the use of “big data” in the social sciences is growing dramatically. Yet, adequate methodological research on what constitutes such data, and about their validity, is lacking. Scholars face both opportunities and challenges inherent in this new era of unprecedented quantification of information, including that related to political actions and attitudes. This special issue of the International Journal of Sociology addresses recent uses of “big data,” its multiple meanings, and the potential that this may have in building a stronger understanding of political behavior. We present a working definition of “big data” and summarize the major issues involved in their use. While the papers in this volume deal with various problems - how to integrate “big data” sources with cross-national survey research, the methodological challenges involved in building cross-national longitudinal network data of country memberships in international nongovernmental organizations, methods of detecting and correcting for source selection bias in event data derived from news and other online sources, the challenges and solutions to ex post harmonization of international social survey data – they share a common viewpoint. To make good on the substantive promise of “big data,” scholars need to engage with their inherent methodological problems. At this date, scholars are only beginning to identify and solve them.

Keywords:

• big data
• harmonization
• methodology
• political behavior
• social sciences

Notes

Some argue that the term is misleading. In years past, the average social scientists’ computer could not handle the size of large data sets. Today, data that were once considered too large are more efficiently compressed and off-the-shelf computers can make extensive use of them. Due to technological advances, data that were once considered big are big no longer (boyd and Crawford 2012: 663). This trend will continue.

We used the Web of Science database, with “sociology” and “political science” as research areas. In 2013, there were two articles with “big data” as the article topic. In 2014, there were 27, and halfway through 2015, there were 29.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

J. Craig Jenkins

J. Craig Jenkins is a professor of sociology, political science, and environmental science at Ohio State University. He has received a Fulbright Professorship at the Peace Research Institute of Oslo (PRIO), a Leiv Eiriksson Mobility Fellowship from the Norway Research Council, and the Robin M. Williams Jr. Award for Distinguished Contributions to Scholarship, Teaching and Service from the Section on Peace, War and Social Conflict of the American Sociological Association. He has written or edited 4 books and over 100 research articles addressing social movements, protest theory, event data methods, and political economy.

Kazimierz M. Slomczynski

Kazimierz M. Slomczynski is a professor at the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology at the Polish Academy of Sciences. He is also director of the Cross-National Studies: Interdisciplinary Research and Training program (CONSIRT) of Ohio State University and the Polish Academy of Sciences. He is principal investigator of the Polish Panel Survey POLPAN, conducted every five years since 1988, and directs other studies, including a project on ex post harmonization of cross-national surveys. He has published numerous articles in various international scientific journals and authored or coauthored several books in Polish and English. His main interest is in social stratification and methodology of social sciences.

Joshua Kjerulf Dubrow

Joshua Kjerulf Dubrow received his Ph.D. from Ohio State University and is an associate professor at the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology, Polish Academy of Sciences, and Program Coordinator for CONSIRT of Ohio State University and the Polish Academy of Sciences. He is on the Executive Board of the Committee on Political Sociology (ISA and IPSA). His research on interdisciplinarity has appeared in Sociologias, the American Sociologist, and Quality and Quantity.