Skip to Main Content

SSCI 381: Computational Social Science

Course guide for SSCI 381: Computational Social Science

Background Research Activity

You are in a class that focuses on urban development, and you need to write a paper about some kind of feature of city planning - for example, bike lanes, public parks, zoning, etc. You know you want to do something about parks or nature and how people use these spaces.

Think about how you would start your research, and answer the following questions:

  • What steps would you take?
  • Where will you look for information?
  • What will you do if you get stuck?

Sample Topic

How is neighborhood use of green space affected by income

Evaluating Sources Activities

Part One: Evaluation Criteria

  1. Brainstorm 3-5 criteria you would use to evaluate a source. How would you decide if it was useful to you?
  2. Share your criteria on the class Padlet.

Part Two: Evaluating a Source

  1. Navigate to the sample article, "Do low-income neighbourhoods have the least green space? A cross-sectional study of Australia’s most populous cities".
  2. Evaluate using the criteria we established as a group.
  3. Think about:
    1. What are some good things about this source?
    2. What are some potential issues with it?
    3. How might you use this source in a project or paper?