Module Directory

With research methods rapidly changing in response to the large-scale generation of data within society, social science needs to ensure it is engaged with new digital methods to both benefit from them, and to shape them.

This module is designed for first-time programmers, from social science and humanities backgrounds, and focuses on teaching foundational skills in data collection, analysis and visualisation using the Python programming language. Students will learn key skills such as how to gather large-scale datasets from APIs, data cleaning and exploratory data analysis, and visualisation for finding patterns and themes, in varied datasets. Students will develop an understanding of how, through these techniques, new, creative non-traditional data sources can be utilised for social science research.

The aims of this module are:

• A fundamental knowledge of the Python programming language


• The ability to acquire data through API’s.


• Knowledge and understanding of cleaning, managing and reporting on large datasets.


• The ability to perform basic Social Network Analysis.


• The ability to perform basic text analysis and topic modelling.


• Knowledge and understanding of the legal and ethical issues surrounding computational social science practice.


• Knowledge of how these techniques is utilised in research as well as in non-academic contexts.

By the end of this module, students will be expected to be able to:

1. Be able to generate new datasets from a range of potential sources.


2. Be able to practically deploy a range of data science analysis techniques


3. Be able to visualise and interpret results in a method appropriate manner.


4. Understand the impact of different pre-processing techniques on later analysis outcomes.


5. Be able to clearly communicate method and findings both through visualisations and written reports.


6. Understand the ethical and legal dimensions of computational social science.


7. Be able to situate computational techniques within broader principles of research design in the social sciences.

In this module, students will learn to combine their growing knowledge about society, social processes, and research design, with powerful tools to both draw on and analyse the vast amounts and forms of new data in a way that is critical, ethical and valuable.

This module provides a practical introduction to a range of methods that utilise intensive computational processing. Students will be taught in Python, a general-purpose accessible programming language popular in data science and used across a vast range of sectors. Students are not expected to have any prior programming experience, making this a valuable opportunity to learn new research techniques, as well as a skill that is in great demand.

Indicative Topic list

Spring Term:

• Topic 11 – Introduction to HTML and simple Web Scraping


• Topic 12 – Regular Expressions, or the Art of Cleaning Text Data


• Topic 13 – Topic Analysis 1: Uncovering the Hidden Meaning of a Text


• Topic 14 – Network analysis 1: Six Degrees of Separation


• Topic 15 – Topic Analysis 2: What Words are Trying to Say


• Reading Week  – Independent project time


• Topic 16 – Network analysis 2: The Invisible Power of Social Brokers


• Topic 17 – Project time 1


• Topic 18 – Project time 2


• Topic 19 – Project time 3

Summer Term

Independent project and presentation work to finish final module assessments.

This module will be delivered via one  two-hour seminar per week which will be delivered face-to-face and attendance is expected.