Social Data Research and Dissertation Fellowships

Ongoing work at the Social Science Research Council (SSRC) over the past several years, including our 2018 “To Secure Knowledge” report, has identified the importance of access to socially-relevant data in order for researchers to address large issues that inform, empower, and protect the public interest. Much of this data, including social media and the algorithms that determine how information is shared, is proprietary, held by private companies and inaccessible for independent research projects. While social media platforms are beginning to engage the broader research community, critical questions of public importance–such as the role of social media in democratic politics–need to be addressed now with available tools that meet the highest scientific and ethical standards.

The Social Data Research Fellowship and the Social Data Dissertation Fellowship, new endeavors of the Social Science Research Council, with support from Omidyar Network, seek to encourage multifaceted pathways for the collection and analysis of social data, with the larger aim of cultivating robust research on technology and society. In particular, we are interested in supporting research that makes creative use of available social data to investigate how social media interact with democracy and elections. Expanding ethical scholarly access, use, and analysis of a range of social data is critical to understanding the complex ways that social media and other technologies impact political life and processes.

Further details:
Social Data Research and Dissertation Fellowships