Successful workshop on "Digital Trace Data in Social Science Research"
The workshop "Digital Trace Data in Social Science Research" took place at the College for Social Sciences and Humanities in Essen from 26 to 28 June 2024. Led by Prof. Dr. Frauke Kreuter, Prof. Dr. Christoph Kern, Dr. Anna-Carolina Haensch and Clara Strasser Ceballos, the workshop offered a comprehensive insight into the use and analysis of digital trace data in the social sciences.
In the first part, participants were introduced to various sources of digital trace data, including websites, smartphone apps and sensors in wearables. Particular focus was placed on social media platforms such as YouTube or Reddit. The theoretical insights were supplemented by practical exercises with R. The second part was dedicated to data analysis and machine learning, in particular text classification models and topic modelling. Again, participants were able to carry out practical exercises with R.
The workshop brought together postdocs, doctoral students and students from all over Germany offering, in addition to its specific content, numerous opportunities for networking and exchange. The workshop was a great success and clearly demonstrated the potential and limitations of digital trace data for social science research.
