The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science
New Developments in Data Collection: Linking Data across Levels
Introductory Sociology
Social and behavioral scientists face challenges when collecting data in a meaningful, cumulative, and representative way. Big data—data as a result of our lives rather than designed for research purposes—is one of the most recent innovations in digital communication that has given researchers a new form of information to access.
In this volume of The ANNALS the task of linking a broad supply of information—from administrative data, to social media, to census and surveys, to ethnographic data, to data from randomized controlled trials—to address how humans and their communities make decisions is addressed. The importance of these linkages is demonstrated in the research that was presented at the New Data Linkages conference and is compiled in this volume.