407 - Theory Section Invited Session. Theory in an Era of Big Data

Session Submission Type: Paper Session

Abstract

The rise of the internet, the emergence of social-networking communities, the archiving of libraries and the veritable digitization of modern social life has created a radically new set of possibilities for social scientists. Panelists for this session raise questions about how the emergence of "Big Data" both as a characteristic of a newly emerging digital lifestyles and as as a seemingly unbounded source of potential information for social analysis will have (and is already having) an impact on sociological theory and practice.

Sub Unit

• Section Invited

Session Organizer

• John W. Mohr, University of California-Santa Barbara

Presider

• John W. Mohr, University of California-Santa Barbara

Individual Presentations

• Wikipedia, Theory, and Academic Knowledge - Julia Potter Adams, Yale University; Hannah Brueckner, New York University-Abu Dhabi; Timothy Malacarne, Yale University; Jesse Einhorn, Yale University

• Mining Theory - Michael W. Macy, Cornell University

• Clash of the Paradigms? Big Data as a Trading Zone between Science, Engineering and the Humanities - Daniel A. McFarland, Stanford University

• Big Data and High Impact Scientific Discovery - Brian Uzzi, Northwestern University

Discussant

• Ronald L. Breiger, University of Arizona