Social science increasingly uses data that requires advanced tools and algorithms. Preparing text, audio, and video data for analysis and running those analyses involves linking contemporary computational tools with datasets and major research challenges in ways that cut across disciplines. Building bridges between data scientists who develop the tools to analyze these data and social scientists who have datasets to address research questions in unprecedented ways that could benefit from them is critical for both opening the world of these new data and refining the tools for analysis.

Social Research with Unstructured Data is a new workshop designed to build connections between social scientists and data scientists to improve scholarship in both arenas. MIDAS, the AI Lab and ISR are jointly starting a research connection conversation series for scholars in both groups to present research vision and cutting-edge methodology that could benefit from additional interdisciplinary collaboration and theorizing. We want to build this series biweekly for faculty, research scientists, postdoctoral, and graduate students to build major research projects from their vision, find the right methods for their data, identify collaborators, or find scholars who can help trial run the tools they have developed.

If you are interested, please come to our initial meeting on Friday, October 14th, 1-2 pm, in 6050 ISR (426 Thompson St). We encourage you to sign up ahead of time because we will order refreshments.


 At the planning meeting, attendees will present research ideas that they are passionate about, identify key research and methodology development themes to start off the series, and discuss how this series can be most beneficial to their research.