Computer Age Sociology

Formally, I would like to shape my DPhil according to the article format as stipulated in the handbook, producing three journal articles with the common narrative of exploiting the Computer Age to advance the sociological endeavour. Against this backdrop, a first proposed article would cover an extensive discussion of the added value of the Computer Age for sociology, aimed for a general audience. My second and third article would be in line with the type of research I have produced earlier and has been attached to this application: the construction of completely new databases to invigorate classical areas of sociological inquiry and tackling complex research topics through meso concept analysis in order to streamline empirical findings. I will discuss two illustrative examples which I would like to pursue and are in line with this proposed structure.
The neigbhourhood effect mentioned earlier is a body of research that could benefit enormously from the Computer Age. Data availability on geographical locations has sky-rocketed through the popular use of the web to locate shops, restaurants and other facilities. Scraping these types of data - e.g. where yoga studios and Starbucks are setting up or closing down, the development of real estate prices and many more can be used to better distinguish areas from one another and their development over time.9 Evaluating such enhanced descriptive information against life chances - e.g. crime or school data, which for the UK and many other countries is publicly available and geo-traceable - will allow for new perspectives on the neigbhourhood effect and build on the relatively crude indicators that prevail throughout much of the literature.