Introduction to Computational Social Science: Principles and Applications (Texts in Computer Science) - Hardcover

Cioffi-Revilla, Claudio

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1447156609 ISBN 13: 9781447156604

Publisher: Springer London Ltd, 2014

Synopsis

The emerging field of computational social science (CSS) is devoted to the pursuit of interdisciplinary social science research from an information processing perspective, through the medium of advanced computing and information technologies.

This reader-friendly textbook/reference is the first work of its kind to provide a comprehensive and unified Introduction to Computational Social Science. Four distinct methodological approaches are examined in particular detail, namely automated social information extraction, social network analysis, social complexity theory, and social simulation modeling. The coverage of each of these approaches is supported by a discussion of the historical context and motivations, as well as by a list of recommended texts for further reading.

Topics and features: describes the scope and content of each area of CSS, covering topics on information extraction, social networks, complexity theory, and social simulations; highlights the main theories of the CSS paradigm as causal explanatory frameworks that shed new light on the nature of human and social dynamics; explains how to distinguish and analyze the different levels of analysis of social complexity using computational approaches; discusses a number of methodological tools, including extracting entities from text, computing social network indices, and building an agent-based model; presents the main classes of entities, objects, and relations common to the computational analysis of social complexity; examines the interdisciplinary integration of knowledge in the context of social phenomena.

This unique, clearly-written textbook is essential reading for graduate and advanced undergraduate students planning on embarking on a course on computational social science, or wishing to refresh their knowledge of the fundamental aspects of this exciting field.

About this title

About the Author

Dr. Claudio Cioffi-Revilla is Professor of Computational Social Science, founding and former Chair of the Department of Computational Social Science and founding and current Director of the Center for Social Complexity at George Mason University, VA, USA.

From the Back Cover

The emerging field of computational social science (CSS) is devoted to the pursuit of interdisciplinary social science research from an information processing perspective, through the medium of advanced computing and information technologies.

This reader-friendly textbook/reference is the first work of its kind to provide a comprehensive and unified Introduction to Computational Social Science. Four distinct methodological approaches are examined in particular detail, namely automated social information extraction, social network analysis, social complexity theory, and social simulation modeling. The coverage of each of these approaches is supported by a discussion of the historical context and motivations, as well as by a list of recommended texts for further reading.

Topics and features:

• Describes the scope and content of each area of CSS, covering topics on information extraction, social networks, complexity theory, and social simulations
• Highlights the main theories of the CSS paradigm as causal explanatory frameworks that shed new light on the nature of human and social dynamics
• Explains how to distinguish and analyze the different levels of analysis of social complexity using computational approaches
• Discusses a number of methodological tools, including extracting entities from text, computing social network indices, and building an agent-based model
• Presents the main classes of entities, objects, and relations common to the computational analysis of social complexity
• Examines the interdisciplinary integration of knowledge in the context of social phenomena

This unique, clearly-written textbook is essential reading for graduate and advanced undergraduate students planning on embarking on a course on computational social science, or wishing to refresh their knowledge of the fundamental aspects of this exciting field.

Edition details

• Publisher: Springer London Ltd
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 1447156609
• ISBN 13: 9781447156604
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 320