Abstract:
Current analytical approaches in computational social science can be characterized by four dominant paradigms: text analytics (information retrieval and classification), social network analysis (graph theory), social complexity analysis (complex systems science), and social simulations (cellular automata and agent-based modeling). However, when it comes to organizational and societal units of analysis, there exists no approach to conceptualize, describe, explain, model and predict social media interactions as individuals' associations with ideas, values, identities, aspirations and such. To address this limitation, based on the enactive approach to the philosophy of mind, phenomenological approach to sociology, and the mathematics of set theory, this seminar presents a novel approach to big data analytics called Social Set Analysis (SSA). SSA consists of a generative framework for the philosophy of computational social science, a theory of social data, conceptual and formal models of social data, and an analytical framework for combining big social data with organizational and societal datasets for generating meaningful facts, actionable insights, valuable insights, and sustainable impacts. Three empirical studies in big social data analytics are presented to illustrate and demonstrate social set analysis in terms of (a) crisp and fuzzy set-theoretical interaction analysis, (b) set-theoretical visualizations of social media crises, and (c) fake news engagement and endorsement on Facebook walls of Clinton and Trump. Implications for big data analytics, current limitations of the set-theoretical approach, and future directions are outlined.
Bio:
Ravi Vatrapu is a professor of computational social science at the Department of Digitalization, Copenhagen Business School; professor of applied computing at the Westerdals Oslo School of Arts Communication and Technology; and directorof the Centre for Business Data Analytics. Prof. Vatrapu’s current research focus is on big social data analytics to design, develop and evaluate a new holistic approach to computational social science, Social Set Analytics (SSA). Prof. Vatrapu holds a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Communication and Information Sciences from the University of Hawaii at Manoa (USA), a Graduate Certificate in International Cultural Studies from East-West Centre (USA), a Master of Science (M.Sc) in Computer Science and Applications from Virginia Tech (USA), and a Bachelor of Technology in Computer Science and Systems Engineering from Andhra University (India).
