Decoding the Social World: Data Science and the Unintended Consequences of Communication (Information Policy)
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.68 (510 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0262037076 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 240 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2016-09-28 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
About the Author Sandra González-Bailón is Assistant Professor at the Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, and Research Associate at the Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford.
Communication has always been the force that makes a collection of people more than the sum of individuals. By opening the black box of unintended effects, González-Bailón finds a starting point for devising strategies for social intervention. She describes how communication generates social dynamics in aggregate (leading to episodes of "collective effervescence") and explains the mechanisms that underlie large-scale diffusion, when information and behavior spread "like wildfire." She explains how network theory can be used to analyze the relationship between individual decisions and collective outcomes, and why communication can rewire the networks that constrain and facilitate social life. Finally, she explores the policy implications of digital research, considering, among other things, how data science and evidence-based research can enrich critical thinking and decision making.. The technologies we use, in the end, are also a manifestation
Sandra González-Bailón is Assistant Professor at the Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, and Research Associate at the Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford.