The promise and pitfalls of big data and computational studies of politics

TY - JOUR

T1 - The promise and pitfalls of big data and computational studies of politics

AU - Earl, Jennifer

N1 - Funding Information: A great deal of ink has been spilled over ?big data ? in the last several yea?rsit has consumed computer science, engineering, information science, medicine, and the social sciences, among other areas, and has ushered in new fields such as data science. In the United States (US), big data has also been featured in national funding priorities and in the funding decisions of specific agencies, such as the National Science Foundation (NSF). While White and Breckenridge (2014) note that funding to proposals about big data was non-existent at NSF until 2009, when a handful of projects began to be funded exclusively by the Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering 堀 The torrent of proposals opened up around five to six years ago 唀 with ? ? ? ?big data ? projects funded by N?F in ? ? ? ? 堀 Now 唀 big data is a common talking point 唀 even if its meaning and relevance to social science is still less settled. As this special issue demonstrates, it is also working its way into sub-fields, such as social movement studies. In this article, I do not intend to rehash the many arguments that have been made over the last five years about the role, opportunities, and risks of big data (e.g., boyd Funding Information: Jennifer Earl is a Professor of Sociology and (by courtesy) Government and Public Policy at the University of Arizona. She is Director Emeritus of the Center for Information Technology and Society and Director Emeritus of the Technology and Society PhD Emphasis, both at University of California, Santa Barbara. Her research focuses on social movements, information technologies, and the sociology of law, with research emphases on Internet activism, social movement repression, and legal change. She is the recipient of a National Science Foundation CAREER Award for research from 2006-2011 on Web activism. She has published widely, including an MIT Press book, co-authored with Katrina Kimport, entitled Digitally Enabled Social Change, which examines how the use of Internet affordances are reshaping the basic dynamics of protest online and was awarded an Honorable Mention for the Communication and Information Technologies ?ection of the American ?ociological Association 嬁退 Book Award in ? ? ? ? ?

PY - 2018

Y1 - 2018

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85055153200&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85055153200&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1285/i20356609v11i2p484

DO - 10.1285/i20356609v11i2p484

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85055153200

SN - 1972-7623

VL - 11

SP - 484

EP - 496

JO - Partecipazione e Conflitto

JF - Partecipazione e Conflitto

IS - 2

ER -