Big Data: Challenges for the social sciences. Panel presentation at the World Social Science Forum, International Convention Centre, Durban, South Africa. Tuesday 15 September, 2015

1. What’s happening in the world of big data and the social sciences
David De Roure, University of Oxford @dder

2. Research Councils UK

3. ESRC Big Data Network

4. The fourth quadrant
More
people
More
machines
Big
Data
Big
Compute
Conven6onal
Computa6on
“Big
Social”
Social
Networks
e-­‐infrastructure
online
R&D
Big
Data
Produc6on
&
Analy6cs
deeply
about
society
The
future

5. New Forms of Data
• Internet data, derived from social
media and other online interactions
(including data gathered by
connected people and devices, eg
mobile devices, wearable technology,
Internet of Things)
• Tracking data, monitoring the
movement of people and objects
(including GPS/geolocation data,
traffic and other transport sensor
data, CCTV images etc)
• Satellite and aerial imagery (eg
Google Earth, Landsat, infrared,
radar mapping etc)
hGp://www.oecd.org/s6/sci-­‐tech/new-­‐data-­‐for-­‐
understanding-­‐the-­‐human-­‐condi6on.htm

6. House of Commons Inquiry
http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/
science-and-technology-committee/news/report-responsible-use-of-data/
Traditional data storage systems were not designed for
real-time analysis but new technologies can now provide
live information and data analysis can accomplished in
real-time. Social media data offers the possibility of
studying social processes as they unfold at the level of
populations as an alternative to traditional surveys or
interviews. The data from social media is described as
"qualitative data on a quantitative scale" and requires
innovative analysis techniques.
Traditional data storage systems were not designed for
real-time analysis but new technologies can now provide
live information and data analysis can accomplished in
real-time. Social media data offers the possibility of
studying social processes as they unfold at the level of
populations as an alternative to traditional surveys or
interviews. The data from social media is described as
"qualitative data on a quantitative scale" and requires
innovative analysis techniques.

7. New Social Processes
FundraisingThroughDigital:Howclicktivists,slacktivistsand
hacktivistsarehelpingusbeatcancersooner—MichaelDocherty
Photographs:
Cancer
Research
UK

8. Digital Marketing Ecosystem
hGps://www.gartner.com/technology/research/digital-­‐marke6ng/transit-­‐map.jsp

9. Citizen Science
hGps://www.zooniverse.org/

10. Social Media Triangle
social
media
data
and
analy.cs
social
media
for
engagement
with
research
social
media
as
a
subject
of
research
Sam
McGregor

11. A rehearsal for the future
• The Internet of Things
describes a world in which
everyday objects are
connected to a network so that
data can be shared
• But it is really as much about
people as the inanimate object
• It is impossible to anticipate
all the social changes that
could be created by connecting
billions of devices
hGps://www.gov.uk/government/publica6ons/internet-­‐of-­‐things-­‐blackeG-­‐review

12. New Forms of Data CDT
New UK Centres for Doctoral Training in New Forms
of Data and in Biosocial Research
Much of the value of ‘new forms of data’ lie in the
potential for them to be analysed in near real-time,
which presents opportunities for revealing phenomena
as they unfold, enabling timely response with
immediate influence.
Such analysis brings distinct new computational
requirements, requires new skills, and makes new
demands on the ease of use and capability of the
national e-Infrastructure.
hGp://www.esrc.ac.uk/funding-­‐and-­‐guidance/postgraduates/dtc/dtc-­‐
policy/commissioning-­‐of-­‐centres-­‐for-­‐doctoral-­‐training.aspx

13. Big, Open, and Personal
theODI.org

14. Social Machines
Real life is and must be full of all kinds of social
constraint – the very processes from which society
arises. Computers can help if we use them to create
abstract social machines on the Web: processes in
which the people do the creative work and the machine
does the administration... The stage is set for an
evolutionary growth of new social engines. The ability
to create new forms of social process would be given to
the world at large, and development would be rapid.
Berners-Lee, Weaving the Web,
1999 (pp. 172–175)

15. Observing Social Machines
hGp://sociam.org/

16. Methods of Observation
Tarte,
S.
Willcox,
P.,
Glaser,
H.
and
De
Roure,
D.
2015.
Archetypal
Narra6ves
in
Social
Machines:
Approaching
Sociality
through
Prosopography.
ACM
Web
Science
2015.
Tiropanis,
T.,
Hall,
W.,
Shadbolt,
N.,
De
Roure,
D.,
Contractor,
N.
and
Hendler,
J.
2013.
The
Web
Science
Observatory,
IEEE
Intelligent
Systems
28(2)
pp
100–104.
Understanding the design
and emergent behaviours of
co-created sociotechnical
constructions at scale
Macroscope
Observatory
Prosopography

17. Summary
New forms of data enable us to:
• Observe social processes in new ways
• Study new social processes, e.g. social media
• Design new social processes, e.g. for citizen
engagement at scale
There are considerations of ethics and responsible
innovation in each
This is all a rehearsal for living in the Internet of
Things

18. Thank You
Thanks to Fiona Armstrong, Peter Elias, Wendy Hall,
Chris Lintott, Sam McGregor, Nigel Shadbolt, Ségolène
Tarte, Ramine Tinati, Thanassis Tiropanis, Max Van
Cleek, and Pip Willcox
Contact david.deroure@oerc.ox.ac.uk