About the Event 

Social scientists increasingly rely on industry-developed tools to conduct research. However, these tools are often not designed with academic purposes in mind, requiring researchers to make adaptations that come with inherent limitations. Recently, the practice of researchers developing tools specifically for research has gained traction in certain social science fields. In this talk, I will explore the development of academictwitteR, a widely used R package for collecting Twitter data, as a case study to reflect on its advantages, challenges, and the key lessons researchers can draw from engaging in research software development.

Our Speaker 

Dr Justin Chun-ting Ho is a postdoctoral researcher at the Amsterdam School of Communication Research. His methodological research focuses on the development and evaluation of computational tools for social science research.

When & Where   

The talk will take place online via Zoom on Wednesday 5 March, from 14:00 to 15:00 (UK time), followed by a 30-minute Q&A session with the speaker. Participants will have the opportunity to submit questions before the talk, to be answered in the Q&A session. If time allows, questions asked during the event will also be considered. The talk will be recorded and later made available on the SSI website and YouTube channel.

Who can attend 

We are happy to invite all researchers working within the social sciences accross the UK, as well as all those interested in software development specifically for research.

Further Questions

Please contact Andrzej Romaniuk (andrzej.romaniuk@ed.ac.uk) for any questions related to this and upcoming workshops.