“The Critical Data Studies Cluster is an interdisciplinary initiative that welcomes people from across the University and beyond who study datafication and data-driven systems.”
Morgan Currie, Karen Gregory and Alex Taylor, Critical Data Studies Cluster Leads
Critical Data Studies offers a space for scholars who use critique to study data-driven and AI technical systems. Critical approaches interrogate the structures enabling data-driven tech and AI that too often elide their social, legal and political economic dimensions. Critique allows us to imagine – and build – more socially just alternatives.
Meet our researchers
Anissa Tanweer
Our external researchers
Workshops & Events
Upcoming events and workshops will be posted here.
Digital Method of the Month: What LLMs Can and Cannot Do
The digital method of the month meeting is a safe space to freely discuss the practicalities of learning and implementing a new digital skill in your research. During this session, we will introduce the concept of Large Language Models (LLMs), discuss their strengths and weaknesses, and explore how they can be effectively integrated into research workflows.
Getting Started with Python for Research
This course will introduce attendees to the basic concepts and features of Python programming language. The goal is for participants to feel comfortable with creating simple Python programs and provide them with the autonomy and confidence required to progress independently.
Getting Started with R for Research
This beginner-friendly course will focus on developing skills and a fundamental understanding of R and RStudio. Participants will develop a familiarity with the principles and functionalities of R and RStudio, allowing them to confidently apply these, or indeed seek out new concepts, for their current and future research.
Network Analysis from Scratch: Intro to Gephi
This three-session course introduces attendees to Gephi, a free and open-source network analysis and visualisation tool. The main focus will be on social network analysis, and attendees will have the opportunity to apply their own dataset in Gephi.
Digital Method of the Month: Geospatial Data and GIS
The digital method of the month meeting is a safe space to freely discuss the practicalities of learning and implementing a new digital skill in your research. The method of this month is GIS, or Geographic Information Systems. GIS is a computer system that combines maps and databases to help people create, manage, and analyse information about places.
From Images to Text: Working with OCR
This course is an introduction to extracting text from images and scanned PDFs using Optical Character Recognition (OCR) techniques. In the course, we will give you an overview of text extraction, demonstrate how OCR works in practice, using free, ready-to-use tools that are widely available.
Collecting Data from the Web: Foundations of Webscraping
This workshop introduces the fundamentals of scraping user-generated content from the web using R or Python. The session will be hands-on, working through the process of scraping a selected static website step by step, before concluding with a discussion of the limitations of scraping and the challenges posed by more complex dynamic sites.
Digital Method of the Month: Data Visualisation
The digital method of the month meeting is a safe space to freely discuss the practicalities of learning and implementing a new digital skill in your research. A big part of conveying research results hinges on how these results are presented. Join us to discuss the main principles of effective and reproducible data visualisation.
Introduction to Geographical Data with QGIS
This course will focus on developing skills and a fundamental understanding of Geospatial data and the basic functionalities of QGIS. Each session begins with a presentation that introduces the theoretical principles and is followed by a guided practical exercise where these principles can be tested and applied, as well as developed upon. Please bring a mouse with you to the session.
Silent Disco: Foundations of Sentiment Analysis
Sentiment analysis is the process of determining whether a piece of writing is positive, negative or neutral. Its use has become relatively widespread, including being used to analyse customer feedback, social media, user surveys, and more. This workshop will cover how it works; pros and cons; using it on text, user feedback and online sources.
Study opportunities in Critical Data Studies
MSc DIGITAL Sociology
Understand and gain the foundation for analysing the complex ways that digital technologies and data shape society, institutions, social relations, and culture. Develop essential social and data science skills to explore topics such as political protest, misinformation, future of work, bias and discrimination, and digital mobility.
MSc Science and Technology in Society
Science and technology are powerful agents of change. But government policies, economies, cultures and values shape the development and direction of scientific research and technological innovation. You will explore and examine the complex and rapidly evolving relationships between science, technology, innovation and society.
MSc Data Science, Technology and Innovation
Develop knowledge and awareness of data intensive applications, and learn to think critically and creatively about governance, ethics and other social issues, and how they interact with technologies. Gain interdisciplinary research skills and data science expertise in both qualitative and quantitative disciplines.
MA/MSc in Design Informatics
Gain the foundation for integrating design thinking and data science with an emphasis on exploring the role of data-driven technologies in society and the potential for social good. You will develop an ethically aware, critically reflective technical practice combining theory and research with making and hacking.
MSC Future Governance
Technology and data are transforming governance across the globe. Explore and analyse the challenges and opportunities that big data brings to the future of democracy. Develop leading-edge knowledge and skills to help shape the world – and your career – by driving positive change.
MSc DATA AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE ETHICS
Ethical design, and the use and governance of artificial intelligence and other data-intensive technologies, are critical to our future. Gain the interdisciplinary skills and knowledge to navigate complex systems and roles with transparency, fairness, and respect for individual and human rights, and social needs.
