Studying social networks in the age of computational social science

Abstract

Social and behavioral sciences now stand at a critical juncture. The emergence of Computational Social Science has significantly changed how social networks are studied. In his keynote at IC2S2 2021, Lehmann presented a series of research based on the Copenhagen Network Study and pointed out an important insight that has mostly gone unnoticed for many network science practitioners: the data generation process — in particular, how data is aggregated over time and the medium through which social interactions occur — could shape the structure of networks that researchers observe. Situating the keynote in the broader field of CSS, this commentary expands on its relevance for the shared challenges and ongoing development of CSS.