Big Data on a Small(er) Campus: Use of Large-Scale Text Analysis by a Comprehensive Primarily Undergraduate Institution

Awarded Grant: $20,000

Principal Investigator:

Brian Lowe, Oneonta

This project will offer instructors across a wide variety of disciplines at primarily undergraduate institutions (PUIs) the tools and methods necessary to discern patterns and trends within “Big Data” — on the order of petabytes (or 1015 bytes) to zettabytes (or 1021 bytes) — as it emerges through social media. The capacity to organize and critically dissect claims and information found within social media becomes increasingly important pedagogically for both social scientists and scholars within other fields, as the learning environment for undergraduates is increasingly dominated by social media. The capacity to coherently organize and analyze claims and information circulated through social media becomes increasingly important as the topography of social problems and controversies is influenced by social media.

Co-PI’s and Key Partners:

Dr. Gregory M. Fulkerson, Assistant Professor of Sociology, SUNY College at Oneonta
Mr. James Greenberg, Director, Teaching, Learning and Technology Center, SUNY College at Oneonta
Dr. Brett Heindl, Assistant Professor of Political Science, SUNY College at Oneonta
Dr. Achim Koedderman, Associate Professor of Philosophy, SUNY College at Oneonta
Dr. William R. Wilkerson, Associate Professor of Political Science, SUNY College at Oneonta

Reports and Resources:

Publications:

Brian Lowe, SUNY Oneonta – Analyzing “Big Data” – August 5, 2013