Digital Methods for Social Science

Jonathon Adams, English Language Institute, Ministry of Education, SingaporeStuart Agnew, Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Arts Business and Applied Social Science, University Campus Suffolk (UCS), UK Julie Barnett, Professor of Health Psychology, University of Bath, UKIbrar Bhatt, Senior Research Associate, Department of Educational Research, Lancaster University, UK Emma Bond, Associate Professor, University Campus Suffolk, and Director of iSEED (The Institute for Social, Educational and Enterprise Development, UK Phillip Brooker, Research Associate, University of Bath, UK Axel Bruns, Australian Research Council Future Fellow, and Professor, Creative Industries Faculty, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, AustraliaJean Burgess, Associate Professor of Digital Media, and Director of the Digital Media Research Centre (DMRC), Queensland University of Technology, Australia Timothy Cribbin, Lecturer, Department of Computer Science, Brunel University London, UK Roberto de Roock, Center for Games and Impact, Arizona State University, USAAdolfo Estalella, Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Manchester, UK Jorge Fábrega is Assistant Professor, Adolfo Ibañez University, ChileClaire Hewson, Lecturer in Psychology, The Open University, UKChristine Hine, Reader in Sociology, Department of Sociology, University of Surrey, UK Jo Hope, University of Surrey, UKEmma Hutchinson, University of Warwick, UKJeremy Knox, Lecturer in Digital Education,University of Edinburgh, UKNoortje Marres, Senior Lecturer in Sociology at Goldsmiths, University of London, UKYvette Morey, Research Fellow, Centre for the Study of Behaviour Change and Influence, University of the West of England, Bristol, UKSteven Roberts, Senior Lecturer in Sociology, Monash University, USAJavier Sajuria, Research Associate, School of Government in Public Policy, University of Strathclyde, UKSanjay Sharma, Senior Lecturer, Department of Social Sciences, Media and Communications, Brunel University London, UKHelene Snee, Lecturer in Sociology, Manchester Metropolitan University, UKEve Stirling, Senior Lecturer in Design, Sheffield Institute of Art, Sheffield Hallam University, UKVictoria Tedder, University of Kent, UKHayley Watson, Senior Research Analyst, Trilateral Research & Consulting, London, UK

• List of Figures and Tables Foreword; Noortje Marres Acknowledgements Notes on the Contributors 1.Digital Methods as Mainstream Methodology: An Introduction; Helene Snee, Christine Hine, Yvette Morey, Steven Roberts, Hayley Watson PART I: BIG DATA, THICJ DATA: SOCIAL MEDIA ANALYSIS 2.Methodological innovation in precarious spaces: the case of Twitter; Axel Bruns and Jean Burgess 3. Have we even solved the first 'big data challenge?' Practical issues concerning data collection and visual representation for social media analytics; Phillip Brooker, Julie Barnett, Timothy Cribbin and Sanjay Sharma 4. I'm always on Facebook!' Exploring Facebook as a mainstream research tool and ethnographic site; Eve Stirling PART II: COMBINING AND COMPARING METHODS 5. Mixing modes to widen research participation; Jo Hope 6. Do we need polls? Why Twitter will not replace opinion surveys, but can complement them; Javier Sajuria and Jorge Fabrega 7. Video analysis in digital literacy studies: Exploring innovative methods; Roberto de Roock, Ibrar Bhatt, and Jonathan Adams PART III: DEVELOPING INNOVATIONS IN DIGITAL METHODS 8. Prototyping social sciences: Emplacing digital methods; Adolfo Estalella 9. Digital methods and perpetual reinvention? Asynchronous interviewing and photo elicitation; Emma Hutchinson 10. Digital stories and handmade skills: Explorations in how digital methods can be used to study transmissions of skill; Victoria Tedder PART IV: DIGITAL RESEARCH: CHALLENGES AND CONTENTIONS 11. What's the matter with MOOCs? Sociomaterial methodologies for educational research; Jeremy Knox 12. Towards an innovative inclusion: Using digital methods with young people; Emma Bond and Stuart Agnew 13. Ethics Issues in Digital Methods Research; Claire Hewson 14. Digital Methods as Mainstream Methodology: Conclusions Helene Snee, Christine Hine, Yvette Morey, Steven Roberts, Hayley Watson Index

'Digital methods offer important opportunities and challenges for researchers across the social sciences. This exciting text brings a welcome critical edge to discussions of digital methods, showcasing the work of new and more established researchers, and making important connections between academic disciplines.' Christine Griffin, Professor of Social Psychology, University of Bath, UK 'This exciting volume brings together a diverse group of scholars who have both experimented with and reflected deeply about the opportunities and challenges facing social scientists wanting to make use of digital data and methods. The contributions will be of great value to students wanting to learn about the full range of methods now available to them as well as more established colleagues who are unsure about how to integrate digital methods into their existing research repertoires.' Sally Wyatt, Professor of Digital Cultures, Maastricht University, and Programme Leader of the eHumanities Group, Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences 'This is an extremely important and informative text because it is one of the first to situate digital methods within social science methodology. It identifies the issues of using digital methods within a broad range of social science methods and in so doing shows how digital methods can contribute to the research questions that social scientists ask.' Bridgette Wessels, Reader in Digital Sociology, University of Sheffield, UK