Fall/Winter Timetable

POL304H1S L5101

Topics in Methods

Using Data to Understand Politics and Society

Themes

Students will learn about role of data for politics and society, and several approaches to understand these data. How do information and data shape politics and policies? What insights can we gain about contemporary and past societies from the data they produce? To answer these questions we will examine ideas and concepts associated with measurement and information theory, and especially how they have been applied to evaluate, build, sustain, and change societies. This course will draw from topics in the study of international relations, economics, political behavior, and statistics to offer a diverse set of tools for processing and analyzing different types of data. Topics addressed will include war and conflict, social media, elections and representation, network analysis, and text analysis.

Please note: POL222H1 (or equivalent) will be sufficient to take POL304H1 S in Winter 2024

Prerequisites

POL232H1 or equivalent

Exclusions