This graduate version of UCCSS is offered as a hybrid course. Students are expected to watch the lectures, answer the intermittent lecture questions, and do the labs. There will be a weekly face-to-face meeting for discussion: Wednesday, 1.10 - 3 pm, Kerr Hall 178.

Course Content

Digital technology has not only revolutionized society, but also the way we can study it. For one, studying the massive digital footprint behind left behind by human online interaction allows us to gain unprecedented insights into what society is and how it works. This includes its intricate social networks that had long been obscure. Computational power allows us to detect hidden patterns through analytical tools like machine learning and to natural language processing. Finally, computer simulations enable us to explore hypothetical situations that may not even exist in reality, but that we would like to exist: a better world.  Computational social science provides us with the tools to explore new scenarios in a way that is as intriguing as playing a video game, while at the same time grounding it into the empirical reality of the world around us. This course gives an introduction to some of the exciting possibilities of how to do research.

UCCSS (University of California Computational Social Science) is the first online course taught collectively by Professors from all 10 UC campuses (about UCCSS).

While no formal requisites are necessary to join this course, at the end you will web-scrape 'Big Data' from the web, execute a social network analysis ('SNA'), find hidden patterns with machine learning ('ML') and natural language processing ('NLP'), and create agent-based computer models ('ABM') to explore what might happen if we would change certain things in society.

More on Course Logistics

Course Objectives

By the end of the course you will have:

• gained a comprehensive understanding of prevalent modern social science research methods;
• critically thought through the complexities of many pressing social science challenges;
• collected hands-on experience with several computational research tools;
• prepared yourself to better navigate in a world where the most valuable companies, the largest democratic elections, and your immediate social network are run by computational social science.

Office Hours and class interaction:

• For content questions: use Piazza (see navigation bar). Sign up and don't miss the ongoing class conversation!
  
• For personal questions: send a private message on Piazza or Canvas (see "Inbox" in navigation bar). We can always set up a a personal office meeting. Please send me 3 alternative times you can come by my office in Kerr Hall.
• Regular "Announcements" are made (see navigation bar), incl. video messages. Make sure not to block them in your inbox.
• Please feel free to coordinate among yourself to do labs together, etc. You can coordinate here: Study Group coordination

Evaluation

Final grades are based on a 100-point system as follows:

Interactive Video Questions (10%) and Labs (30 %)

Interactive assignments allow you to quickly build a strong base for your grade in this course (40%).

Intermittent/interactive video lecture questions represent 100 points in total (usually 10 points per session), equal to 10% of the final grade. You only have one attempt to answer them. Points will be transferred when you reach the end of the video.

Points for interactive labs have different weights. The insights you gain while working through them accumulate constantly, building up to a final integrative lab exercise (session 9) and the exams. Therefore, do NOT skip them: you will need them eventually anyways.

Points are discounted to late submissions.

Please make sure that you understand and avoid PLAGIARISM. We do check with plagiarism software and regularly report misconduct to Student Judicial Affairs ( http://sja.ucdavis.edu/scs.html ).

FAQs (important: please read!)

1. Will there be tasks and questions that require any extra programming skills and background in math or statistics? Answer: No, no prerequisites. UCCSS does not have prerequisites even for undergraduates. You can do it.
2. Are the intermittent questions in the video lectures graded? Answer: Yes, but they are not difficult. The video lectures are our material (note that there is no official reading). So the questions make sure you don't fall behind in consuming the material. It is to be expected that you already happen to know some of the material (thanks for your patience!), but not all. The questions are worth one entire letter grade (10%). 
3. How do I know if I got an intermittent video question wrong/right in PlayPosit?  Answer: If you marked a question correctly it turns green (or stays white for correctly not marking it). Wrong answers turn yellow/redish. "Check all that apply" questions are graded all or nothing (!)
4. The PlayPosit interface shows that I got points on the questions, but it doesn't show up in Canvas? Something went wrong with the sync process (maybe an internet connection problem...). Please sync your grade manually if you find this situation: at the end of the PlayPosit video (question summary) click on the "three dots" and "Export to LMS". Please ALWAYS CHECK at the end of your Session if all grades got synced. It is always your responsibility (here and elsewhere) to check if the tech you are using also worked.
5. Can we collaborate with others in labs? Answer: I'm a big fan of Study Groups. However, just remember that you will need the tools for your final project. So get create synergies to learn those tools, and make sure you know what you're doing. 
6. The videos are lagging, what can I do? Answer: By default, streaming is set to a full HD version and depending on the network connection/bandwidth, you may experience the lagging/pausing. You can adjust video quality from the scrub bar (<HD>) or adjust the video course (more here) as that should help. You can also watch the videos (without questions) here at AggieVideo (you have to log in).

About the course coordinator:

Before joining UC Davis, Prof. Hilbert created and led the Information Society Program of the United Nations Secretariat for Latin America and the Caribbean. This program aims at fostering the impact of digital technologies. In his 15 years as United Nations Economic Affairs Officer he has provided hands-on technical assistance in the field of digital development to Presidents, government experts, legislators, diplomats, NGOs, and companies in over 20 countries. Policy makers from the highest political levels have officially recognized the impact of his projects. He retired early from his life-long appointment with the UN, because he wanted to be an active part of the exciting process of making use of these same digital technologies to better understand society. He joined the University of California in 2014 to be able to dedicate more time and energy to "Computational Social Science". He regularly still does consulting work for the UN and other private and public clients, applying new CSS methods in practice.

He has written five books about digital technology for international development and has published in academic journals in the fields of communication, economic development, information science, psychology, ecology and evolution, political science, complex systems, women’s studies, and forecasting. His findings have been featured in popular outlets like Scientific American, PBS, Discovery, NatGeo, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, The Economist, NPR, BBC, Die Welt, Correio Braziliense, ElMundo, among others. International perspectives are no mere theory for Prof. Hilbert, as he speaks five languages and has traveled to over 70 countries. More: http://www.martinhilbert.net