New this year, the module will be an overview of web and social media data analytics. We will be asking what kinds of questions can be addressed by the digital footprints of likes, links, comments and logs left behind online, as well as getting hands-on experience with a variety of analysis/visualisation tools and services. The module will also touch on the limitations of these data and the ethical considerations of their use.
We'll be reading accessible texts from authors such as Avinash Kaushik and Duncan Watts and learning tools such as NodeXL.
The module will be approachable and useful to students with a wide variety of skill levels and professional goals. Beyond a basic familiarity with Excel, no specific technical background nor programming experience is required, though students with such backgrounds will be able to select from a wider variety of final projects.
