led by Dr Diarmuid McDonnell, University of the West of Scotland, and Rhys Davies, University of Edinburgh
Computational methods are transforming research practice across the disciplines. For social scientists these methods offer a number of valuable opportunities, including creating new datasets from digital sources; unearthing new insights and avenues for research from existing data sources; and improving the accuracy and efficiency of fundamental research activities.
In this three-day course you will learn how to apply computational methods for the collection, management and analysis of textual data. Using Python and R, you will develop skills in collecting data from the web; preparing textual data for computational analysis; and core methods of text data analysis (e.g., sentiment analysis, topic modelling).
Day 1: Friday 7th March 10am – 4pm is online and covers the use of websites and Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) as sources of social science data.
Days 2 and 3: Thursday 13th and Friday 14th March 10am – 4pm are in-person and focus on how to prepare and analyse textual data.
Students are expected to attend all three days of this training course. Accommodation is available for those who require it in order to attend – please indicate your requirement in the registration form.
This course is suitable for social science researchers from any methodological background (e.g., qualitative, quantitative) and who are new to the use of computational methods in their research. Participants are not expected to have any experience of using Python or R before attending this course.
Participants should bring their own devices, and do not need to have any software pre-installed prior to attending.