Harvard Symposium on Applied Computational Text Analysis

May 2, 2018

Harvard University

Department of Sociology

William James Hall 105

 

The Harvard Symposium on Applied Computational Text Analysis will bring together a group of sociologists who are carrying out cutting-edge research with text analysis methods, and doing so in the service of theoretically and substantively important research questions. As the use of computational approaches has matured in the discipline, the time is ripe to showcase this kind of work. The goals of the event are twofold: (1) to generate dialogue between practitioners of text analysis and share insights about how these approaches can help sociologists answer old questions more effectively—and potentially ask new questions that were out of reach with traditional data and methods; and (2) to demonstrate to scholars unfamiliar with this type of work the promise of automated text analysis (tempered by an understanding of these methods’ limitations). The paper presentations will span the substantive areas of economic, political, and cultural sociology, while a keynote address by Professor Gary King will consider the future of computational methods in the social sciences more broadly.

If you have any questions about the symposium or if you are planning to attend the lunch, please RSVP no later than April 16, by sending an email to Odette Binder
 

Program

 

9:15-9:30 Opening remarks
Bart Bonikowski, Harvard University

9:30 - 10:30 Opening Keynote
Gary King, Harvard University
How the media activate public expression and influence national agendas

10:30 - 12:00 Economic Sociology
Paul DiMaggio, New York University
Interaction Ritual Threads: Does Collins' IRC Theory Work On-Line?
Amir Goldberg, Stanford University
Duality in Diversity: Cultural Heterogeneity, Language, and Firm Performance
Carly Knight, Harvard University
A Good Trust: Moral Discourse and the Rhetoric of Corporate Legitimation

12:30 - 2:00 Lunch (all attendees who RSVP are welcome)

2:00 - 3:30 Cultural Sociology
Taylor Brown, Duke University
Qualities and Inequalities: Gendered Valuation in the Contemporary Art Market
Ryan Light, University of Oregon
Interviewer Effects and Historical Data: Race and the “Born in Slavery” Collection
Alix Rule, Columbia University
Actor-oriented descriptions over the "longue duree"

3:30 - 5:00 Political Sociology
Laura Nelson, Northeastern University
Finding Simple Patterns in Complex Movements
Chris Bail, Duke University
Exposure to Opposing Views can Increase Political Polarization: Evidence from a Large-Scale Field Experiment on Social Media
Bart Bonikowski, Harvard University
Measuring Frames and Identities: What Computational Text Analysis Can Teach Us about Radical Politics

5:00 – 5:30 Concluding remarks
Christopher Winship, Harvard University

 

Speakers

 

Bail

Chris Bail

Douglas and Ellen Lowey Associate Professor of Sociology

Duke University

 

Headshot of Bart Bonikowski, Assistant Professor of Sociology.

Bart Bonikowski

Associate Professor of Sociology

Harvard University

brown

Taylor Brown

Doctoral Student in Sociology

Duke University

DiMaggio

Paul DiMaggio 

Professor of Sociology

New York University

goldberg

Amir Goldberg

Associate Professor of Organizational Behavior

Stanford University

king

Gary King

Weatherhead University Professor

Harvard University

Carly Knight

Carly Knight

Doctoral Student in Sociology

Harvard University

Light

Ryan Light

Associate Professor of Sociology

University of Oregon

nelson

Laura Nelson

Assistant Professor of Sociology and Anthroplogy

Northeastern University

rule2

Alix Rule

Doctoral Student in Sociology

Columbia University