Big Data in Psychological Research

Big Data in Psychological Research

Technological advances have led to an abundance of widely available data on every aspect of life today. Psychologists today have more information than ever before on human cognition, emotion, attitudes, and behavior. Big Data in Psychological Research addresses the opportunities and challenges that these data present to psychological researchers. This edited collection provides an overview of theoretical approaches to the utility and purpose of big data, approaches to research design and analysis, collection methods, applications, limitations, best practice recommendations, and key issues related to privacy, security, and ethical concerns that are essential to understand for anyone working with big data. The book also discusses potential future research directions aimed at improving the quality and interpretation of big data projects, as well as the training and evaluation of psychological science teams that conduct research using big data. Behavior science is being rapidly transformed by the widespread availability of data from people making impactful decisions and actions in naturally occurring environments. This volume convincingly conveys the opportunities, methods, cautions, and excitement for harnessing diverse data sets to reveal psychological insights. Read this to get a glimpse of what the future of psychology will look like. -- Robert Goldstone, PhD, Indiana University, Bloomington Published On: 2020-03-21 Leveraging big data to advance psychological research and practice is a multidisciplinary endeavor. Woo, Tay, and Proctor have assembled a diverse, insightful, and pragmatic set of chapters authored by experts from a variety of disciplines that are written in a manner easily accessible to psychologists. Well done! -- Dan J. Putka, PhD, Principal Scientist at the Human Resources Research Organization, Alexandria, VA, and Fellow of the American Psychological Association Published On: 2020-03-27 Leveraging big data to advance psychological research and practice is a multidisciplinary endeavor. Woo, Tay, and Proctor have assembled a diverse, insightful, and pragmatic set of chapters authored by experts from a variety of disciplines that are written in a manner easily accessible to psychologists. Well done! -- Dan J. Putka, PhD, Principal Scientist at the Human Resources Research Organization, Alexandria, VA, and Fellow of the American Psychological Association Published On: 2020-03-27 Sang Eun Woo, PhD , is an associate professor in the Department of Psychological Sciences at Purdue University. Her research focuses on industrial-organizational psychology, particularly personality and motivation, work attitudes, withdrawal behaviors, and interpersonal relationships in the workplace. Louis Tay, PhD , is an associate professor in the Department of Psychological Sciences at Purdue University. His research focuses on industrial-organizational psychology, with a particular focus on issues related to methodology (i.e., measurement, continuum specification, latent class modeling, and big data/data science) and well-being (i.e., societal well-being, wellness programs, and work-leisure interface). Robert W. Proctor, PhD , is a professor in the Department of Psychological Sciences at Purdue University. His research focuses on human performance, human-computer interaction, human factors issues related to information security and web design, and experimental research methods.