Measuring Culture Workshop 2023

Measuring Culture: Advancing Computational Approaches in Sociological Research

The workshop "Measuring Culture: Advancing Computational Approaches in Sociological Research", organized by Katharina Burgdorf, Mark Wittek, and Annelies Blom, connected researchers interested in utilizing innovative tools for studying culture. As the field of sociology increasingly embraces technological advancements and diverse data sources, this workshop provided a platform for exchanging ideas and exploring the latest analytical tools. These include, but are not limited to network analytical approaches, Natural Language Processing, and Computer Vision. The workshop also aimed to stimulate discussion about novel data formats and sources, ranging from song texts and film critiques to Youtube user behavior, or Wiki Arts images. By bringing together researchers from various backgrounds, the workshop facilitated a productive exchange of ideas and perspectives, helping to harmonize existing research streams and promote interdisciplinary collaboration. In addition, the workshop will provide a space for critical reflection on these new developments, helping to identify potential blind spots or harmful effects for broader society. The workshop benefitted the broader research community, providing researchers with new insights, tools, and methodologies to advance their research, ultimately leading to a better understanding of data and data science and its role in illuminating processes in culture and society. We received great support from the Bremen Data Science Center, the Academy for Sociology, and the SOCIUM.

The Schedule

Monday (20 November 2023)

Emily Erikson (Yale University)

Keynote

Rens Wilderom (University of Amsterdam)

How style impacts organization: modeling stylistic variations in the fields for film and painting

Matthias Kuppler (Siegen University)

Revisiting the World Republic of Letters: Status Competition in the Global Literary Field

Theresa Henn (Bamberg University)

What Do They Meme? Exploring the Role of Memes as Cultural Symbols of Online Communities

Philipp Brandt (Sciences Po)

Data Science’s Cultural Construction on Twitter: Qualitative Ideas for Quantitative Work

Elida Izani Ibrahim (Stockholm University)

Do Liberals Drive Volvos Everywhere? Assessing Cultural Bundles in Sweden

Anastasiia Menshikova (Linköping University)

The Parallel Evolution of Online and Media Immigration Discourses

Nico Groepler (Oldenburg University)

Cultural Differences in the Relationship between Leaving Home and Subjective Well-being between Germany and Japan

Jonas Wiedner (WZB)

Culture or Structural Context? Why Do Some Immigrant Minorities Build Dense Organizational Infrastructures while Others Do not?

Tuesday (21 November 2023)

Sophie Mützel (Lucerne University)

Keynote

Nikita Basov (Manchester University) & Robert Hellpap (RWTH Aachen)

Patterns of Adaption: Reinventing the Quantitative Analysis of Cultural Diffusion

Edin Ibrocevic (MPIfG Cologne)

From Global Diffusion to Local Semantics: Unpacking the Scientization of Central Banks

Felix Lennert (CREST)

It’s in the News! On the Transmission of Elite Polarization Through the Media

Max Roßmann (Maastricht University)

Dutch Universities’ Response to the ChatGPT Hype in Higher Education: A Digital Methods Approach to Visionary Communication

Polina Zavershinskaia (Leipzig University)

National Memory Narratives in Russia’s Sacralisation of the War Against Ukraine: Mapping the Great Patriotic War Narrative

Kirill Maslinsky (INALCO Paris)

Bibliographic Data for Studying Cultural Transfer: A Proper Lens? A Case Study of Translations of Soviet Children’s Books