long time，Quantitative research in sociology relies on surveys、Census and experimental bet365 offers，Use statistical models based on statistical regression analysis to analyze and explain social phenomena。With the development of big bet365 offers and its analysis technology，Digitized text、Media Social Network、Big bet365 offers such as spatiotemporal information has been widely used in various research fields of sociology，Not only enriches the research phenomenon of sociology，Broadened the research horizons of sociology，It also brought about huge changes in the quantitative research method system of sociology at the method level。

　　The research paradigm shifts to the dual drive of theory and bet365 offers

Traditional sociological quantitative research is empirical research under the guidance of theory。For specific research questions，Researchers conduct theoretical deductions based on relevant theories and past research conclusions，Propose research hypothesis，Then use scientific statistical models to conduct empirical analysis on the bet365 offers，Thereby proving or falsifying the hypothesis。In this process，Proposition of research hypothesis、Concept measurement and variable selection，Mainly based on past theories and conclusions。Reliance on theory will cause researchers to be limited by previous experience，As a result, most quantitative research can only add and subtract variables based on previous experience、Add interaction terms、Group samples and other operations，Make minor repairs and improvements based on previous experience，It is difficult to achieve breakthrough theoretical discoveries。Because big bet365 offers usually has higher dimensions，The thinking dimension of the human brain is limited，It is difficult to imagine in high-dimensional space。Therefore，Big bet365 offers analysis usually uses a bet365 offers-driven approach，Enter all potentially relevant variables (features) into the machine learning model，By pairing variables in the bet365 offers、Calculate the real and complex relationships between cases，Find between groups、Structural relationship between variables，Helping researchers from massive amounts、Discover knowledge and patterns in high-dimensional real bet365 offers。Currently，Not only big bet365 offers is used in sociological research，The bet365 offers-driven idea has also been integrated into the variable selection of current quantitative research in sociology、Structural Analysis、Heterogeneous group identification and causal inference, etc.，Formation of a new quantitative research paradigm driven by both bet365 offers and theory。

The theoretical driving force lies in，Researchers need to guide the range of variable selection based on professional knowledge in related fields、Develop analysis strategy、Analysis model results，And carry out theoretical construction，Propose new social theories from the study of empirical phenomena。The bet365 offers drive is mainly reflected in the specific research methods: (1) in variable selection，Regression using LASSO、Supervised machine learning models such as ridge regression，From all independent variables that may be related to the dependent variable，Screen out the variables that are important to the dependent variable，“Cast a wide net、Focus on fishing”，Thereby avoiding omitted variables，It is also possible to make unexpected discoveries from angles that have not been touched by previous theories，Thus promoting theoretical innovation；(2) Analysis of variable structure，Use principal component analysis、t distribution—machine learning embedding techniques such as stochastic neighbor embedding (t-SNE)，“Condensate” bet365 offers by mapping bet365 offers from high-dimensional space to low-dimensional space，You can convert the original sparse、Convert discrete high-dimensional bet365 offers into continuous variables and incorporate them into statistical models，It can also help researchers discover hidden structures between variables；(3) In terms of heterogeneous group identification，Use unsupervised clustering model，Group groups entirely based on characteristic differences of samples，High-dimensional features can be considered simultaneously，Get intra-group homogeneity、Group with heterogeneity between groups，It helps researchers further explore the heterogeneity patterns in different groups；(4) In causal inference，Use cause and effect trees、Machine learning models such as causal forests to analyze the effects of heterogeneous treatments，Can automatically estimate the heterogeneous treatment effects of treatment variables on different groups；Use the Causal Bayesian Network based on the causal discovery algorithm for causal inference，Not only can we make counterfactual causal inferences about the relationship between independent variables and dependent variables，Unbiased estimates of causal effects，Can also learn the causal relationship between independent variables。

　Methodology turns to the coexistence of individualism and holism

The bet365 offers sources of traditional sociological quantitative research are mostly micro-survey bet365 offers at the individual level，And mostly use linear regression and other methods，Aims to discover relationships between variables。Therefore，The theoretical issues discussed in most quantitative studies are mainly at the individual level，such as education、How relationship networks affect individual status acquisition，How social capital affects individual health status, etc.。Although some studies used communities、Region、City and other macro-level indicators，But the focus of the discussion is still on how these macro-level factors affect micro-individuals，For example, how the level of marketization in the region affects individual returns on education, etc.。Although the bet365 offers obtained through scientific sampling survey design and census are generally representative，The relationship between its variables can be generalized to the population，However, the social theories proposed by quantitative sociological studies targeting micro individuals mainly focus on the micro and meso levels，Difficulty in constructing macro-social theory。

The emergence of big bet365 offers and the development of analysis methods，Creates the soil for the development of macro-quantitative sociological research based on holism，Transform the quantitative research in sociology from the dominance of individualism to the coexistence of individualism and holism。On the one hand，Big bet365 offers can provide different levels of summary bet365 offers，Link multiple bet365 offers sources，Able to fill bet365 offers gaps at the macro level，Provide bet365 offers support for macro-level research，For example, using registration big bet365 offers to study social changes、Understand population trends、Analyzing the laws of economic development，Exploring the impact of policy implementation, etc.。On the other hand，Big bet365 offers analysis method，Especially the development of complex network analysis technology，It also provides researchers with the possibility to discover macro-level characteristics and patterns from a large amount of micro-bet365 offers。Although complex networks are constructed based on the relationships between individuals，But the focus of its analysis lies in the characteristics of the overall network structure、Changes and their generation mechanisms。Therefore，Complex network analysis mainly focuses on the overall、Laws at the macro level，For example, exploring how social groups form and differentiate from structural changes in dynamic social networks；Exploring the changes in labor market structure and its causes from the occupational mobility network；Discover the patterns and laws of population mobility from the population migration network；From thesis topic、Quote、Exploring the development trends of science in the cooperation network, etc.。

　bet365 offers methods shift to diversified method systems

Theory-driven paradigm、Constraints of individualistic methodology and bet365 offers limitations，Previous quantitative sociological research usually centered on variables，Use regression model to perform correlation analysis on variables。Facing a large body、High dimensionality、Diversified forms、Fast growth、Big bet365 offers with low value density，Researchers need to use different combinations of methods to mine information that meets research needs，Thus enabling knowledge production and scientific discovery。First，Because big bet365 offers contains a large amount of unstructured bet365 offers，Researchers should pay special attention to descriptive analysis，Pass bet365 offers cleaning、Design appropriate statistical indicators to extract key information，Cleverly use visualization technology to be the most concise、Intuitive and aesthetic way，Maximize the information contained in the bet365 offers。Secondly，Big bet365 offers comes in various forms，Example text bet365 offers、Audio and video bet365 offers、Image bet365 offers、Network bet365 offers, etc.，Researchers need to master corresponding text analysis techniques，Coping with diverse bet365 offers forms。Finally，Big bet365 offers is not equal to the full sample bet365 offers，The opposite，Most of the big bet365 offers that researchers can obtain is obtained from specific groups、There are selective samples。Therefore，Compared with randomly sampled survey bet365 offers，Causal inference based on big bet365 offers brings greater challenges to researchers。Researchers not only need to master more scientific causal inference tools，More careful research design is needed，In order to avoid big mistakes caused by big bet365 offers，Identifying true causal relationships from complex appearances。

The era of big bet365 offers，The expansion of bet365 offers has injected new vitality into sociological research，The development of big bet365 offers analysis technology also provides the possibility for the innovation of sociological quantitative research paradigm and methodology，But new opportunities also mean new challenges。Massive and complex big bet365 offers，Putting higher requirements on the “computing power” of computers and researchers，And today, when the big bet365 offers acquisition and use mechanism is not yet perfect，Obtaining big bet365 offers that meets research needs has also become a major challenge for social science research。Therefore，Promote the construction of big bet365 offers platform，Improving big bet365 offers bet365 offers production and innovation in open mechanisms and research methods，It has become an important issue that quantitative sociology researchers need to promote urgently。

　(Author’s affiliation: Department of Sociology and bet365 offers Work, Sun Yat-sen University)