Big data provides new methods for empirical research
March 04, 2024 12:10 Source: "China Social Sciences" March 4, 2024 Issue 2844 Author: This reporter practiced Zhizhi

Current,Academic circles are generally recognized,The research method of traditional single disciplines has been difficult to meet the current research needs,and with the continuous development and application of information technology,Big data provides many new tools and methods for scientific research。As a representative traditional research method,Empirical research is based on observed experience or data,Then summarize the experience as theory。Big data analysis has further expanded the research scale,Reduced human cost,Improving the accuracy of research。Limitations around traditional empirical research and the help and insufficient help and insufficiency of big data,Our reporter interviewed Steve Fuller, a professor at the Department of Sociology, the Department of Sociology, the University of Warwick University,。

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Professor of the School of Social Sciences at the University of Social Sciences of Prague CharlieIn "International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences) mentioned,Empirical Social Research Using Empirical Data to explain social phenomena,Verify social facts and data on the basis of social theory、Rich social theory。From the historical perspective,The development of empirical social research is divided into three stages。The first stage is represented by the transformation of scientific procedures in the Chicago Sociology School of Chicago from 1895-1929。The second stage began in the late 1920s,Standardized data of social units (individuals and families) at that time was used for marketing and public opinion surveys,Starting from the late 1930s,This aspect is applied Bet365 lotto review to the field of sociology。The third stage is to use the same massive data in the analysis and research mode,Cause and effect between selected variables with testing。Empirical social research refers to the basis of social theory,Empirical research activities of enriching social theory。

Fuller talked about his understanding of empirical social research in an interview with this reporter。He said,Humans are a member of society,So you can get the understanding of "people" in life。Empirical social research can collect information about people through means other than daily life experience。For example,Quantitative and qualitative research methods,Obtain content beyond the basic information。Researchers measure through quantitative methods、Calculate the various characteristics of human beings,Refers to statistics,Or ask people to ask people through qualitative methods。Fuller Represents,Most empirical social research, especially large -scale research,Most of them are commissioned by the state,Its purpose is to better understand people’s thoughts,to further improve the level of governance。

Fuller replenish,It is worth mentioning is,"In order to perform effective rule,The view that the country should understand the people's ideas "did not be popular in Europe in the late 18th century。This also reflects that the difference between the ruler and the people is a problem that must be overcome,Because the people will no longer regard this difference as a sign of a better sign of the rulers。In short,The rise of empirical social research is related to extensive democratic consciousness in history。It is also during this period,The academic community begins to launch more close cooperation with the government,Provide and interpret new data related to society。

Now the situation in the West has changed a little,The sponsor of empirical social research Bet365 app download has gradually changed from the government to a commercial company。Fuller Represents,early 20th century,Think Tank、Market Research、Public relations and other fields rise,Data collection agency hopes to promote certain ideas or products。Since then,People gradually realize that it is necessary to eliminate noise in the world of the public,Otherwise it will lead to too much information。At the time of the third and fourth generations,Newspaper、Broadcast、TV and the Internet followed,In this case,How to make the content you want to express or the products you want to sell have enough audiences to become issues that people focus on。Now,Companies specifically responding to these problems have become one of the most successful commercial companies in the world,Silicon Valley in the United States is a powerful proof。It can be said,The empirical social research capabilities of these companies even exceed the government,More and more scholars have started working for these companies。

  Big data to make up for traditional methods defects

In order to better understand the public’s thoughts,Government、Enterprise、Scholars have carried out research,But the defects of traditional methods are further exposed。Past empirical social research requires researchers to issue questionnaires or interviews,Direct contact with the research object。This kind of large -scale survey research spent time、Human resources and other resources are huge,Limit the scale and scope of research。

In addition,Most survey issues revolves around the views of certain topics。Research objects may think about these topics,Perhaps it may not be considered at all,I don't know why researchers ask these questions,I don’t know what the answers to "good" and "correct" corresponding to these questions。But,Researchers will understand the various possible answers of the research objects in advance,and predict bet365 live casino games the significance of these answers to the pair of research。Fuller thinks,This constitutes the knowledge of "asymmetric"。This asymmetry was gradually broken in the 20th century,Because people are gradually used to the existence of empirical social research and are familiar with,At the same time, start to understand why researchers get information from them。Now,People may refuse to answer questions for reasons such as disbelief,or if you cope with the answer that the researchers want to hear; even if there are no these questions,People may still have unconscious bias when explaining their ideas。In short,The expression of the research object may be different from their actual behavior,These may affect the accuracy of the data,Then interfere with the research results。

Another problem is that researchers need to judge the relative importance of the information collected。For example,Researchers have captured a event many times,How to judge the incident is an individual incident or a common incident,How to judge the importance of it to other events。In addition,How to judge whether these repeated contents are true, effective or hearing theory,How to judge whether it belongs to first -hand information or second -hand information。

Fuller thinks,Big data helps to deal with these problems,This technology can become more effective methods and tools。For a long time,Economists have been discussing the preferences that should be believed in "expression" or "revealing" preferences。Obviously,The content of the research object answers is the former,The data generated by the natural behavior through the research object is the latter。Take the purchase preference as an example,Time of consumer online transactions、Platform、content you like to view、Products purchased,can better "reveal" consumers' ideas,more real and comprehensive bet365 Play online games than the content of "expressing"。

Big data is the powerful tool for "revealing" preferences。Fuller told reporters,Big data is a data flow collected from a large number of people,These data streams can be organized and combined in the computer,To expand analysis and interpretation。Big data helps solve this problem,It is because its source is very wide,In most cases,These data are by -products that the parties have agreed with other activities。For example,When the user uses online service,The user has agreed to let the service providers use this data at will,The platform provides services such as contact between users or online shopping,Users provide relevant data。These data can effectively clear the subjective ideas when the research object is facing the problem,Avoid the deviation between subjective ideas and objective behaviors。

  Look at and develop big data methods with an open mind

The method of big data is not very complete。Fuller Represents,In the past, if the data did not meet the relevant theories of the academic world,It may not be used。In this regard,The situation of commercial companies is the same。Commercial companies will conduct data mining to find data that promotes sales,More data that they ignore,It may even be ignored in the end most available data。But,With the arrival of the era of big data,The defects of this method become more obvious,Because in the era of big data,The number of available data that is ignored because it does not meet the existing category is larger。Fuller supplement said,Some companies have begun to try to solve this problem,Look at the data with a more open mind。Some people who transferred from academia to big data analysis companies further expand their thinking mode,The attitude of potential correlation with all the data,The relationship that may be revealed to the data、Rules、Mode and other information to hold a more open mentality。bet365 Play online games Reduce the preset of the analysis results,Perhaps it can bring more unexpected gains。

Fuller thinks,Big data is the future of empirical social research,If researchers can better generate、Explanation and use of big data,Everyone will benefit from it、Life is improved,This also puts forward governance requirements in many different levels。Potential risks in each stage of the data life cycle,The rapid development of big data technology also puts forward new requirements for supervision。EU passed the "General Data Protection Regulations" in 2016,This regulation officially took effect in 2018,It aims to protect personal data privacy。China has also opened legislative work in the privacy protection of big data,Including 2016 passed、"Network Security Law" implemented in 2017、"Data Security Law" and "Personal Information Protection Law" passed and implemented in 2021。"Digital China Construction Overall Layout Plan" in 2023 points out,Construction of Digital China is an important engine for the modernization of the digital era to promote the modernization of Chinese -style modernization,It is a strong support for building a new advantage of the country。In the construction of digital China,Protect data rights、Specification Data Use、Maintenance data security is inseparable from the guarantee of data legislation。China's digital governance ecology is moving towards a more fair and standardized future。

From Fuller's view,It seems to be in a subtle confrontation between the public and scholars,The public is unwilling to express his own ideas out of unwillingness。If you simply get information from the perspective of information,Researchers seem to stop asking people's thoughts,only obtain information through indirect data,After all, data can better predict people's behavior,And people are more willing to share data spontaneously,But I am not willing to answer Bet365 app download the specific questions asked。Another possible method is to allow people to receive regular training,Learn to think about the questions of the researchers and answer。However, Fuller thinks,This method may not be effective,Because the public still needs to receive many other training such as self -expression。Last,Fuller thinks,The core of encouraging people to tell their ideas is,Let the public feel that they are given their rights instead of their rights in this process。

Editor in charge: Zhang Jing
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