CAREER: Explorations of Complex Social and Psychological Phenomena through Multiscale Online Sociological Experiments, Empirical Studies, and Theoretical Models

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This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).This CAREER project aims to improve our understanding of complex social phenomena that emerge when people interact via web-based technologies. The research projects explore: (1) Collaborative creativity, problem solving, and decision making via multiscale, game-based, online sociological experiments; (2) The dynamics of emotional content in human communication through online experiments and by studying a wide body of texts including blogs, microblogs, and online discussion forums; and (3) Collective social phenomena in complex networks (e.g., contagion phenomena) via theoretical models and empirical work. The experimental designs include both tightly constrained samples and less constrained web-based samples, which will enable the researcher to explore some open, controversial questions about web-based vs. more conventional sampling.The project's experiments will center around the development of a sophisticated online experiment platform, which will both facilitate the rapid construction of experiments and will also be useful for educational activities. Once prepared, the platform is intended to be available for wide use by researchers studying social phenomena. The experimental and empirical work will also generate rich, extensive data sets that will be maintained for other researchers to explore.The project will include development of a series of interrelated, transdisciplinary courses on complex systems which will form a core part of the graduate curriculum of the University of Vermont's Complex Systems Center. Course material, including hypertext lectures, will be open-licensed and made available online for others to use in graduate and undergratduate settings. Material will cover a broad spectrum of areas including the distribution of wealth, success, and popularity; the spread of diseases and ideas; search for information; system efficiency, robustness, and fragility; and the large-scale movement of people and materials.