Data Management for Social Scientists

by Nils B. Weidmann

The 'data revolution' offers many new opportunities for research in the social sciences. Increasingly, social and political interactions can be recorded digitally, leading to vast amounts of new data available for research. This poses new challenges for organizing and processing research data. This comprehensive introduction covers the entire range of data management techniques, from flat files to database management systems. It demonstrates how established techniques and technologies from computer science can be applied in social science projects, drawing on a wide range of different applied examples. This book covers simple tools such as spreadsheets and file-based data storage and processing, as well as more powerful data management software like relational databases. It goes on to address advanced topics such as spatial data, text as data, and network data. This book is one of the first to discuss questions of practical data management specifically for social science projects.

242 pages, Paperback

Published March 9, 2023

Reviews

[Marla]

I read this book for work and don't feel right giving it a rating like I do for the books I read for pleasure. Well organized and informative. Some of the chapters are a must-read for those working with data. Just say no to bad data frames!