1504 - Data Journalism Meets Public Sociology

Session Submission Type: Invited Session

Description

Data journalists seek to open large troves in the pursuit of investigative stories. Examples of data journalism include the set of stories on the shipments of millions of opioid pills to small communities; the "Panama Papers" data that exposed international tax evasion schemes; and the report that poor minority neighborhoods are much hotter than other areas of major cities, with residents suffering disproportionately during heat waves. What unites these disparate stories is that they are not primarily based on the traditional methods of investigative journalism but rather rely on journalists as data analysts, often drawing on extensive public data sources. Is there potential for data journalists and public sociologists to collaborate on projects like these? This session brings together data journalists and public sociologists to explore different models of research and explore possible areas of complementarity.

Sub Unit

• Special Sessions

Presider

• Angèle Christin, Stanford University

Panelists

• Cheryl Phillips, Stanford University

• Ruth N. Lopez Turley, Rice University

• Peter Scholfield Hepburn, Rutgers University-Newark

Discussant

• Jerry A. Jacobs, University of Pennsylvania

Session Organizer

• Jerry A. Jacobs, University of Pennsylvania