lördag 25 november 2017

Using statistical and computational methods to understand society and human behaviour

Linköping University, MSc Computational Social Science, 120 credits:
How do ideas spread? How do cities become segregated? The programme prepares you to harness complex data and advanced computational tools to address these and other important social questions.

The increasing integration of technology into our lives has created unprecedented volumes of data on everyday social behaviour. Troves of detailed social data related to choices, affiliations, preferences and interests are now digitally archived by internet service providers, media companies, other private-sector firms, and governments. New computational approaches based on machine learning, agent-based modelling, natural language processing, and network science have made it possible to analyse these data in ways  previously unimaginable.

This is a chance to develop skills in computational techniques alongside a strong grounding in the principles and practice of contemporary social research. The programme’s quantitative methods training will help you harness complex data and use them to explore social theories and fundamental questions about  societies. The programme’s theoretical and substantive training will introduce you to the principles of social inquiry and theories of human behaviour, and help you apply your technical skills to pressing social issues such as ethnic segregation in schools, income inequality, entrepreneurship, political change, and cultural diffusion.

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