About

The Community Data Science Collective is a research collective based in the Department of Communication at the University of Washington, the Department of Communication Studies at Northwestern University, the Brian Lamb School of Communication at Purdue University, and the the Computer Science Department at Carleton College.

We are social scientists and design researchers applying a range of quantitative and qualitative empirical methods to the study of online spaces, participation, and interaction. We investigate how communities function, how collaborative production of information infrastructure (like Wikipedia and Linux) works, and dynamics of online participation.

Our research frequently consists of “big data” quantitative analyses, and also includes qualitative analyses such as interview studies. In terms of research disciplines, the work we do lies at the intersection of communication, sociology, human-computer interaction, and information sciences/systems.



What makes the CDSC unique?
Built around the work of a few of our core faculty members (see Mako, Aaron, and Jeremy's info on People), our group operates with the same values of openness and collective peer-production as the communities we study. This means we welcome anyone to join and participate in our group in whatever ways work best for them. As a result, the CDSC functions not only as a (somewhat dispersed) research lab but also as a collective of researchers and practitioners interested in peer production, online communities, and data science scholarship.

Who is the CDSC for? How can you be involved?
There are a number of ways to be involved!
 * If you're just interested in learning more or keeping up with our work, consider joining our IRC channel (CommunityData:IRC), following our blog or our social media, or attending a workshop.
 * If you're a prospective graduate student interested in joining one of our departments, consider reaching out to one of our faculty or core student members, perhaps to attend one of our meetings.
 * If you're a community member or outside scholar, consider attending one of our meetings, out to one of our faculty members, signing up for an email channel, or consider selecting a "community member" role from our roles page.
 * If you're ready to regularly be part of the collective, visit our roles page, select a participation role that works for you, and be a part of our work!

Important Links

 * Projects
 * People (and Roles)
 * Blog
 * Resources (which will primarily be of use to current CDSC members)