Part 3
Social Data Science
Scope & Sequence
Activity 3.0: The Data of Social Science
Introduces the major forms of social data, including surveys, interviews, and observational data, focusing on how social scientists collect evidence to understand human behavior.
Activity 3.1: Building Surveys Part 1: Demographics as context
Focuses on the importance of demographic data in social research, teaching students how to collect context that helps interpret broader survey results.
Activity 3.2: Building Surveys Part 2: Quantitative Items
Design closed-ended questions and Likert scales to produce measurable data for statistical analysis.
Activity 3.3: Building Surveys Part 3: Structured Qualitative Questions
Learn to construct semi-structured questions that provide deeper insight while maintaining a consistent framework for comparison.
Activity 3.4: Building Surveys Part 4: Open-Ended Qualitative Questions
Explore the art of open-ended questioning to capture rich, descriptive data and nuanced participant perspectives.
Activity 3.5: Building Surveys Part 5: Survey Instrument Assembly
Synthesize all components into a professional survey instrument, focusing on flow, logic, and respondent experience.
Activity 3.6: Conducting Interviews
Covers interview design, ethics, and protocol structure. Students practice constructing interview guides and distinguishing interviews from surveys.
Activity 3.7: Conducting Focus Groups
Introduces focus group methodology, including facilitator roles, group dynamics, and structured discussion guides for collecting group-level insights.