SOC 4390

Social Dynamics and Computational Methods

Course Description

Course information provided by the 2025-2026 Catalog.

This course is intended for a select group of highly motivated undergraduates with a keen interest in computational social science. The course provides an opportunity to participate in on-going research in the Social Dynamics Lab. Projects range from online experiments to computer simulations to collection and analysis of data from social media. Students in this course bring a range of skills and experience to the lab, including coding, data analysis, modeling, and running experiments, and the research affords an opportunity to develop these skills further. In rare cases, students bring a project with them to the lab to work on for the semester. In most cases, however, students work in small teams as research assistants for ongoing research projects. In short, the course is an opportunity for "interdependent study" — a team version of the more familiar "independent study." The research projects often lead to papers for submission to academic journals and/or conferences, but most projects are on-going and not completed during the semester. Students also occasionally develop a senior honors thesis from the research in the lab. On occasion, we have collaborators from other universities Zoom/Skype in as well.

Course Attribute (CU-SBY)

Last 4 Terms Offered 2025FA, 2019SP, 2018SP, 2017SP

Distribution Category (SDS-AS)

When Offered Spring.

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