Bit by bit : Social research in the digital age / Matthew J. Salganik.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 367-412) and index.

ch. 1 Introduction
1.1.An ink blot
1.2.Welcome to the digital age
1.3.Research design
1.4.Themes of this book
1.5.Outline of this book
What to read next
ch. 2 Observing Behavior
2.1.Introduction
2.2.Big data
2.3.Ten common characteristics of big data
2.3.1.Big
2.3.2.Always-on
2.3.3.Nonreactive
2.3.4.Incomplete
2.3.5.Inaccessible
2.3.6.Nonrepresentative
2.3.7.Drifting
2.3.8.Algorithmically confounded
2.3.9.Dirty
2.3.10.Sensitive
2.4.Research strategies
2.4.1.Counting things
2.4.2.Forecasting and nowcasting
2.4.3.Approximating experiments
2.5.Conclusion
Mathematical notes
Activities
ch. 3 Asking Questions
3.1.Introduction
3.2.Asking versus observing
3.3.The total survey error framework
3.3.1.Representation
3.3.2.Measurement
3.3.3.Cost
3.4.Who to ask
3.5.New ways of asking questions
Contents note continued: 3.5.1.Ecological momentary assessments
3.5.2.Wiki surveys
3.5.3.Gamification
3.6.Surveys linked to big data sources
3.6.1.Enriched asking
3.6.2.Amplified asking
3.7.Conclusion
ch. 4 Running Experiments
4.1.Introduction
4.2.What are experiments?
4.3.Two dimensions of experiments: lab-field and analog-digital
4.4.Moving beyond simple experiments
4.4.1.Validity
4.4.2.Heterogeneity of treatment effects
4.4.3.Mechanisms
4.5.Making it happen
4.5.1.Use existing environments
4.5.2.Build your own experiment
4.5.3.Build your own product
4.5.4.Partner with the powerful
4.6.Advice
4.6.1.Create zero variable cost data
4.6.2.Build ethics into your design: replace, refine, and reduce
4.7.Conclusion
ch. 5 Creating Mass Collaboration
5.1.Introduction
5.2.Human computation
Contents note continued: 5.2.1.Galaxy Zoo
5.2.2.Crowd-coding of political manifestos
5.2.3.Conclusion
5.3.Open calls
5.3.1.Netflix Prize
5.3.2.Foldit
5.3.3.Peer-to-Patent
5.3.4.Conclusion
5.4.Distributed data collection
5.4.1.eBird
5.4.2.PhotoCity
5.4.3.Conclusion
5.5.Designing your own
5.5.1.Motivate participants
5.5.2.Leverage heterogeneity
5.5.3.Focus attention
5.5.4.Enable surprise
5.5.5.Be ethical
5.5.6.Final design advice
5.6.Conclusion
ch. 6 Ethics
6.1.Introduction
6.2.Three examples
6.2.1.Emotional Contagion
6.2.2.Tastes, Ties, and Time
6.2.3.Encore
6.3.Digital is different
6.4.Four principles
6.4.1.Respect for Persons
6.4.2.Beneficence
6.4.3.Justice
6.4.4.Respect for Law and Public Interest
6.5.Two ethical frameworks
6.6.Areas of difficulty
6.6.1.Informed consent
6.6.2.Understanding and managing informational risk
6.6.3.Privacy
Contents note continued: 6.6.4.Making decisions in the face of uncertainty
6.7.Practical tips
6.7.1.The IRB is a floor, not a ceiling
6.7.2.Put yourself in everyone else's shoes
6.7.3.Think of research ethics as continuous, not discrete
6.8.Conclusion
Historical appendix
ch. 7 The Future
7.1.Looking forward
7.2.Themes of the future
7.2.1.The blending of readymades and custommades
7.2.2.Participant-centered data collection
7.2.3.Ethics in research design
7.3.Back to the beginning
Acknowledgments
References.

An innovative and accessible guide to doing social research in the digital age. In just the past several years, we have witnessed the birth and rapid spread of social media, mobile phones, and numerous other digital marvels. In addition to changing how we live, these tools enable 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-a landmark book that will fundamentally change how the next generation of social scientists and data scientists explores the world around us. Bit by Bit is the essential guide to mastering the key principles of doing social research in this fast-evolving digital age. In this comprehensive yet accessible book, Matthew Salganik explains how the digital revolution is transforming how social scientists observe behavior, ask questions, run experiments, and engage in mass collaborations. He provides a wealth of real-world examples throughout, and also lays out a principles-based approach to handling ethical challenges in the era of social media. Bit by Bit is an invaluable resource for social scientists who want to harness the research potential of big data and a must-read for data scientists interested in applying the lessons of social science to tomorrow's technologies.