science

Social data analysis

Social data analysis is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Social data analysis rather than just read about it. In short: Social data analysis is the data-driven analysis of how people interact in social contexts, often with data obtained from social networking services. The goal may be to simply understand human behavior or even to propagate a story of interest to the target audience.

Key takeaways

Social data analysis belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Social data analysis to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Social data analysis from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Social data analysis is the data-driven analysis of how people interact in social contexts, often with data obtained from social networking services. The goal may be to simply understand human behavior or even to propagate a story of interest to the target audience. Techniques may involve understanding how data flows within a network, identifying influential nodes (people, entities etc.), or discovering trending topics. Social data analysis usually comprises two key steps: gathering data generated from social networking sites (or through social applications), and analysis of that data, in many cases requiring real-time (or near real-time) data analysis, measurements which understand and appropriately weigh factors such as influence, reach, and relevancy, an understanding of the context of the data being analyzed, and the inclusion of time horizon considerations. In short, social data analytics involves the analysis of social media in order to understand and surface insights which is embedded within the data. Social data analysis can provide a new slant on business intelligence where social exploration of data can lead to important insights that the user of analytics did not envisage/explore. The term was introduced by Martin Wattenberg in 2005 and recently also addressed as big social data analysis in relation to big data computing. Systems are available to assist users in analyzing social data. They allow users to store data sets and create corresponding visual representations. The discussion mechanisms often use frameworks such as a blogs and wikis to drive this social exploration/Collaborative intelligence.

Obtaining social data Social networking services are increasingly popular with the development of Web 2.0. Many of these services provide APIs that allow easy access to their data by responding to user queries with the requested data in the form of XML or JSON formatted strings. In order to protect privacy of their users, services such as Facebook require that the person requesting data has the necessary data access permissions. Services may also charge users for access to their data. Sources of social data include Twitter, Facebook, news websites, Wikipedia and We Feel Fine. Some APIs only allow access to data in small quantities, hence indexing the data in bulk can become a challenge. Six_Apart was the first social media company to provide a (free) firehose of content for all the posts in their network (provided over XMPP). Twitter later came along and provided a firehose as did companies like Spinn3r, Datasift, and GNIP.

Methods of analysis In most cases, we want to find out the relationships between social data and another event or we want to get interesting results from social data analyses to predict some events. There are some outstanding articles in this field, including Twitter Mood Predicts The Stock Market, Predicting The Present With Google Trends etc. In order to accomplish these goals, we need the appropriate methods to do the analyses. Usually, we use statistic methods, methods of machine learning or methods of data mining to do the analyses. Universities all over the world are opening graduate program in Social Data Analysis.

Key concepts When talking about social data analytics, there are a number of factors it's important to keep in mind (which we noted earlier):

Sophisticated Data Analysis: what distinguishes social data analytics from sentiment analysis is the depth of the analysis. Social data analysis takes into consideration a number of factors (context, content, sentiment) to provide additional insight. Time consideration: windows of opportunity are significantly limited in the field of social networking. What's relevant one day (or even one hour) may not be the next. Being able to quickly execute and analyze the data is an imperative. Influence Analysis: understanding the potential impact of specific individuals can be key in understanding how messages might be resonating. It's not just about quantity, it's also very much about quality. Network Analysis: social data is also interesting in that it migrates, grows (or dies) based on how the data is propagated throughout the network. It's how viral activity starts—and spreads.

See also Data Analysis Big Data Business intelligence Collaborative intelligence Social analytics Social data revolution Economic and Social Data Service

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Social data analysis

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Social data analysis claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Social data analysis before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Social data analysis ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Social data analysis

In research: Social data analysis appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Social data analysis in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Social data analysis is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Collective intelligence, Data and information visualization, Internet terminology, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Social data analysis outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Social data analysis in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Social data analysis means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Social data analysis out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Social data analysis in simple terms?

Why does Social data analysis matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Social data analysis?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Social data analysis.