Data Acquisition, Sampling, and Data Preparation Considerations for Quantitative Social Science Research Using Social Media Data

The convergence of methods and relevant theories between computer scientists and social scientists is a necessary condition for leveraging social media data to understand this increasingly important window into human societies. This paper focuses on issues of data acquisition, sampling, and data preparation. These topics incorporate data collection methods, sampling strategies, population mismatch adjustments, and other data acquisition and data preparation decisions.