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 this data presents 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.

I. Background and Overview

1. Big Data Science: A Philosophy of Science Perspective
   Brian D. Haig
2. Big Data: Challenges and Opportunities for Causal Inferences in the Experimental Tradition
   Robert W. Proctor and Aiping Xiong
3. Big Data for Enhancing Measurement Quality
   Sang Eun Woo, Louis Tay, Andrew T. Jebb, Michael T. Ford, and Margaret L. Kern

II. Innovations in Large-Scale Data Collection and Analysis Techniques

4. Internet Search and Page View Behavior Scores: Validity and Usefulness as Indicators of Psychological States
   Michael T. Ford
5. Observing Human Behavior through Worldwide Network Cameras***
   Sara Aghajanzadeh, Andrew T. Jebb, Yifan Li, Yung-Hsiang Lu, and George K. Thiruvathukal
6. Wearable Cameras, Machine Vision, and Big Data Analytics: Insights into People and the Places They Go
   Andrew B. Blake, Daniel I. Lee, Roberto De La Rosa, and Ryne A. Sherman
7. Human-Guided Visual Analytics for Big Data
   Morteza Karimzadeh, Jieqiong Zhao, Guizhen Wang, Luke S. Snyder, and David S. Ebert
8. Text Mining: A Field of Opportunities
   Padmini Srinivasan

III. Applications

9. Big Data in the Science of Learning
   Sidney K. D'Mello
10. Big Data in Social Psychology
    Ivan Hernandez
11. Big Data in Health Care Delivery
    Mohammad Adibuzzaman and Paul Griffin
12. The Continued Importance of Theory: Lessons from Big Data Approaches to Language and Cognition
    Brendan T. Johns, Randall K. Jamieson, and Michael N. Jones
13. Big Data in Developmental Psychology
    Kevin J. Grimm, Gabriela Stegmann, Ross Jacobucci, and Sarfaraz Serang
14. Big Data in the Workplace and Talent Analytics
    Q. Chelsea Song, Mengqiao (MQ) Liu, Chen Tang, and Laura Long

IV. Best-Practice Recommendations for Responsible and Rigorous Use of Big Data

15. The Belmont Report in the Age of Big Data: Ethics at the Intersection of Psychological Science and Data Science
    Alexandra Paxton
16. Promoting Robust and Reliable Big Data Research in Psychology
    Joshua A. Strauss and James A. Grand
17. Privacy and Cybersecurity Challenges, Opportunities, and Recommendations: Personnel Selection in an Era of Online Application Systems and Big Data
    Talya N. Bauer, Donald M. Truxillo, Mark P. Jones, and Grant Brady
18. Privacy Enhancing Techniques for Security
    Elisa Bertino
19. Future Research Agenda for Big Data Research in Psychology
    Frederick Oswald

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.

Below are the supplemental materials for Big Data in Psychological Research:

Chapter 7 Figures: “Human-Guided Visual Analytics for Big Data” (PDFopens in new window | DOCXopens in new window)
by Morteza Karimzadeh, Jieqiong Zhao, Guizhen Wang, Luke S. Snyder, and David S. Ebert