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Special Issue: The empiricist’s challenge: Asking meaningful questions in political science in the age of big data

Journal of Information Technology & Politics

As is often the case with technological phenomena forcefully entering the public debate, the conversation surrounding the potentials and risks of digital trace data has been characterized by much hyperbole. Even when acknowledging the many pitfalls in the work with “big data,” we believe their potential for the social sciences in general and political science in particular is considerable.

Most of all, we believe we should focus on how digital trace data allow us to ask new and meaningful questions in the social sciences instead of losing ourselves in ultimately fruitless games of prediction. This implies: (a) using these new data to reassess existing theories, but most importantly building new ones in light of new insights that could not have been acquired with previous research tools; (b) developing new concepts and measures that, in combination, can help us better understand how attitudes and behaviors captured by this new data source map not only onto larger phenomena, but also onto our existing understandings, thereby making clearer what inferences we can—and cannot—draw in the study of complex social and political processes; (c) reassessing our epistemological tools and methods and through interdisciplinary collaborations, reattuning them to synergize, rather than compete, with one another; and (d) making sure that this entire research program remains consistent with scientific values, ethics, and practices.

Research using digital trace data has made huge strides in a very short time. This new data source enables remarkable and exceptionally creative scholarly work, asking meaningful questions and providing insightful answers about the workings of a variety of social and political phenomena and processes, all the while inviting us to revisit established theories and revitalizing interest in social and political processes whose mechanics social scientists presumed as well established for more than half a century. In light of this ongoing development, we are excited to present you with a stimulating collection of articles that demonstrate some of the best aspects of big-data research and at the same time provide thrilling new insights into various topics in the field of information technology and politics.

Andreas Jungherr and Yannis Theocharis (Eds.). 2017. Special Issue: The Empiricist’s Challenge: Asking Meaningful Questions in Political Science in the Age of Big Data. Journal of Information Technology & Politics 14(2).