What is Computational Social Science?

Message from the Director

Data matters.

We live in a data-driven world. We take in streams of data from our apps, our feeds, the media, and our work. We generate data, whether professionally, in our research, by our actions, or directly by observing and measuring the world. Our every digital action produces data for somebody, with or without our consent. And increasingly, we interact not just with people, but with working artifacts of this data: the models that predict our world, the analytical tools that power our work, the algorithms that control our digital lives, and even 'AI' and large language models, the current pinnacle of data made to feel 'alive'.

In Computational Social Science, we dive deep into this vast landscape of data to answer meaningful questions about our lives. Our faculty, affiliates, and students ask questions about humanity, about communication and language, about society and the complex urban, political, and economic systems we've built, or even questions about our thoughts, our minds, our consciousness, and what it even means to learn and think. But despite our diversity in questions and interests, we share a pool of common methods, ranging from abstract, computational thinking, to statistics, visualization, surveys, modeling of complex systems, machine learning, 'deep learning' and neural networks, 'AI' large language models, geospatial analysis, and even experimental and laboratory work. This means that 'doing CSS' means something different for every person, but we all have something to learn from our colleagues, and we're all united in our goals.

Our goals set us as computational social scientists apart from the rest of the data-focused world. CSS is not about tools and data for the sake of tools and data, analysis in the abstract, or methods meant for everything, although each of us have methods we've come to love. CSS is also not about optimizing code, perfecting the software, or putting our knowledge into production, although that can be part of the work we do. CSS is not about indiscriminately deploying 'AI', machine learning, and intelligent algorithms in our lives, because we understand that although these tools are powerful and can be helpful, there's so much at stake, so many complexities to consider, and creativity, culture, and humanity are where these tools are still weakest. And although CSS involves skills that are applicable in myriad places through academia, industry, government, and non-profit organizations, we are not just here to train the next generation of number crunchers. Instead, when you talk to our students, faculty, affiliates, and staff, you'll realize that the most vital common thread isn't data, analysis, algorithms, computation, or statistics, or anything computational at all.

At its core, our program exists to bring together and train people whose interest, research, and passion is in using these methods to understand, to characterize, to explain, and most importantly of all, to help, our fellow human beings, as they move through their complex mental, personal, professional, and social lives. 

So, of course, data matters. But for us, data matters, because people matter.

Will Styler
Program Director, Computational Social Science
Associate Teaching Professor of Linguistics
UC San Diego

Our Academic Program

UC San Diego offers Computational Social Science programs to train students in this exciting, interdisciplinary field at the undergraduate and Master's level. Our CSS training combines coursework in formal models from across social science disciplines with modern computational data analysis techniques. Most important of all, the hands-on curriculum provides substantive and varied practice applying these skillsets to real-world problems. This integrative training prepares the next generation of scientists and practitioners to understand the past, explore the present, and build the future. 

CSS Undergraduate Minor: The seven-course minor is designed for undergraduates who want to strengthen their computational modeling, data visualization and analysis skills to explore issues in the Social Sciences. The minor helps students add a new dimension to a major in a Social Sciences discipline (Anthropology, Cognitive Science, Communication, Economics, Education Studies, Ethnic Studies, Linguistics, Political Science, Psychology, Sociology, and Urban Studies and Planning). The CSS minor also welcomes majors from all fields, including but not limited to Biology, Data Science, Computer Science and Engineering or Electrical and Computer Engineering, looking to better understand how to apply math, programming, and statistical analysis to Social Science questions. Anyone from any major background who is eager to learn about the intersection of social sciences and computational methods is welcome! 

CSS Masters: This one-year program is designed for those who majored in a social science field and are looking to deepen their knowledge and training in models and algorithms to have greater impact. Beginning with a summer bootcamp that provides a shared foundation in computer skills and core mathematical models, the program also includes foundational courses in inferences from data and machine learning, and flexibility in the elective and capstone work allows students to tailor their work to their interests. Graduates of this program will receive the technical training necessary to collect, structure, and integrate data with formal models in the social sciences to make predictions, develop interventions, and drive policy.

CSS Ph.D. Specialization: This program, for current Ph.D. students within the School of Social Sciences at UC San Diego, is designed to provide a clear path for accessing training in computational social science, a formal mechanism for recognizing their efforts, and access to a broad network of relevant scholars. Students in the Ph.D. specialization supplement their home department curriculum with participation in a Research Seminar, three courses from a list of electives (at least one of which is outside their home department) and the inclusion of a technical or CSS element in their dissertation.

CSS at UC San Diego 

Computational Social Sciences at UC San Diego brings together an interdisciplinary community spanning the School of Social Sciences (eleven departments), and students at all levels: undergraduates, master’s students, and Ph.D. students, to create a thriving ecosystem of discovery, training, and impact.