Popularize computational social science

Thu, 05.05.2016

Helsingin Sanomat, the leading newspaper in Finland, run a full page story of Digivaalit 2015 and computational tools in social science. The story is based on interview with Matti Nelimarkka (HIIT) and Salla-Maaria Laaksonen (University of Helsinki, Faculty of Social Science). They describe details of the methods used to examine agenda influencers during the 2015 elections - results which were published e.g. in Helsingin Sanomat.

The aim is to demystify data science and present to the public how results are computed. As Salla said, the press and the public are interested on the results, but not on the methods how the results was achieved. This is unfortunate, as data science can deliver almost any result one might imagine. According to Matti, the methods nor the code in this study are complicated nor fancy. Instead, the value emerges from integrating with social science context and theories and this way, critically evaluating what is measured.


Last updated on 5 May 2016 by Matti Nelimarkka - Page created on 5 May 2016 by Matti Nelimarkka