Faculty of Economics and Political Science

The Department of Socio-computing

Computer Applications in Modern

Information Societies 1

Introduction to
Social Science Computing (SSC)
and
course overview

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Dr. Fatma Farag
 Important notes:

- All lectures’ materials will be available on Moodle .

- Do not use previous term’s material, as updates are

done in the content each term.

- Office hours sessions will be determined for any

questions.

- Email’s messages are welcomed only for urgent issues,

otherwise, contacting me should be during the lectures’
and /or office hours .

- Any additional information will be announced through

the Moodle.
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 ‫‪Course on Moodle‬‬

‫‪G2‬تطبيقات الحاسب فى مجتمعات المعلومات المعاصرة (‪222301.FEP.C1012- )1‬‬

‫‪G1‬تطبيقات الحاسب فى مجتمعات المعلومات المعاصرة (‪222301.FEP.CA1011- )1‬‬

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 outline
1- Course objective and content.

2- Social Science Computing (SSC) .

▪ Types of models.
▪ SSC new computational models.

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1- Course objective
and content

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 Course objective
The objective of this introductory course is to
give an introduction for the information systems
through addresses the main concepts of
computer and information systems .

Why
“ Information
systems”?? Next lecture

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 Course objective

This introduction is to be done by

covering the following topics:

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 Course content
Part 1: Information Systems in Perspective (an introduction to
information systems).

Part 2: Information Technology Concepts:

- Hardware and Mobile Devices.
- Software and Mobile Applications.
- Database Systems and Big Data.
- Networks and Cloud Computing.
Part 3: Business Information Systems:
- Electronic and Mobile Commerce.
- Business Intelligence and Analytics.
- Knowledge Management and Specialized Information Systems.

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2- Social Science
Computing
(SSC)

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 Discussion

What does SSC mean to you??

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 Social sciences
• Social sciences concerned of studying the
societies, the individual behaviour, and the
interactions between the individuals in
these societies.
• Example of social sciences are:
✓ Economics
✓History
✓Political science
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✓Sociology
 Computational science

• Computational is a methodology that allow the

study of various phenomena, by application of
computational and numerical techniques to
solve large and complex problems.

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 Computational science

• Computational science builds models (a

representation of system using general rules
and concepts) that allow to better understand,
make predictions of the future of the
phenomena to be ready to any unexpected
changes that may occur.

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 Computational science

Computational science is not computer science.

Computer science is a branch of science that

includes all aspects of a computer system
including computer software and hardware.
Computational science is about the application
of computers to advance science, the modeling
and simulating of the real world.

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 Social Sciences Computing (SSC)
chemistry

Biology physics
Logic
Statistics

Natural
Mathematics Sciences
Formal Political
Sciences Science
History
Economics
Computer
Science
Computational Social Sociology
Science SSC Sciences

Psychology

SSC is interdisciplinary field at the intersection of the social

sciences, and computational science.
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 Types of models

Conceptual Mathematical Computational

Physical model
model model model

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Types of models:
1- Conceptual model

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Types of models:
1- Conceptual model
Example1

•Heat from the Sun causes water on Earth (in oceans, lakes etc) to
evaporate (turn from liquid into gas) and rise into the sky.
This water vapor collects in the sky in the form of clouds.
• Water falls from the sky in the form of rain, snow etc, this process
is18 called precipitation.
Types of models:
2- Mathematical model
It is a description of a system using
mathematical concepts and language.

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Types of models:
3-Physical model

It is a smaller or larger physical copy of an object.

You can touch and see, the object may be small
(an atom) or large (Solar System).
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Types of models:
4- Computational model

It is the application of computers to advance

science, the modeling and simulating of the real
world. Example: Social simulation. It allows
better understand, make predictions of the
future of the phenomena.
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 Social Sciences Computing:
new computational models

Social
Social data Social Agent Based Networks Management
science Simulation Information
Models Analysis System( MIS)
(SNA)

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 Social Sciences Computing:
new computational models

Social
Social data Social Agent Based Networks Management
science Simulation Information
Models Analysis System( MIS)
(SNA)

Social data science:

Social data science uses programming skills
and statistical tools to work with social data.
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 Social Sciences Computing:
new computational models
Social
Agent Management
Social Networks
Simulation Based Information
Analysis System ( MIS)
Models
(SNA)

Social simulation:
Is the application of computer-based methods
and technologies to replicate human social
behavior in various environments and scenarios.
Researchers design the program to model a social
situation and then observe the behavior of
individuals when the program runs.
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 Social Sciences Computing:
new computational models
Social
Social Agent Based Networks Management
Simulation Information
Models Analysis System (MIS)
(SNA)

Agent-Based Model: is a class of computational

models for simulating the actions and interactions
of agents to assessing their effects on the system as
a whole. Agent-Based Model (ABM) consists of
modelling different societies as artificial agents and
placing them in a computer simulated society to
observe the behaviours of the agents.
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 Social Sciences Computing:
new computational models
Agent Based Social Management
Social
Networks Information
Simulation Models Analysis (SNA) (MIS)

Social network analysis (SNA) is the measuring of

relationships and flows between people, groups,
computers, and other connected entities.
In SNA, the nodes in the network are the people
and groups while the links show relationships or
flows between the nodes.
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 Social Sciences Computing:
new computational models
Social
Agent Management
Social Networks
Simulation Based Information
Analysis (MIS)
Models
(SNA)

Management Information System (MIS): is a

computer-based system that provides managers
with the tools to efficiently manage departments
within an organization.

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 Complexity of social phenomena

Social phenomena are

complex ones. They are
difficult to predict and treat
using the traditional
methods of analysis.

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 Complexity of social phenomena

Complex social phenomena are characterised by

▪ multidirectional connections of the
elements within a system and between a
system and its environment.
▪ accelerated diffusion of phenomena,
behaviours and cultural feature.

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 Complexity of social phenomena
Multidirectional connections implies:
Any decision or action by one part within a system
will influence all other related parts.
The input characteristics are not correlated in a linear
(simple) fashion with outcomes.

Small changes can have a unexpected

and/or huge impact on
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overall behaviour.
 Complexity of social phenomena

Accelerated diffusion leads :

New systems’ properties emerging at the
aggregate (macro) level.
For example new public opinions and
political movements, new global and local
identities, collective preferences, attitudes,
etc.

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 Complexity of social phenomena

• Computational social science enables us to

handle complex phenomena and to invent
models that reflect the diversity and complexity
of the society.

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 Course information
Course material:
Main: Lectures notes, Lab notes and some text books (next slide).
Grading:
– Final term exam: 50 marks.
– Mid term exam: 20 marks.
– Lab quizzes : 15 marks.
– Lectures’ quizes:15 marks.
Success:
60 and above “ no final exam attendance if absence > 25%”.
Contact information:
Email: [email protected]

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References:

Ralph M. Stair and George W. Reynolds,

“Principles of Information Systems”, thirteenth
edition, 2018.

R. Kelly Rainer Jr., Brad Prince and Casey

Cegielski, “Introduction to Information Systems
,Supporting and Transforming Business”, Fifth
Edition, 2014.

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 Thanks

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