johnson ess digital sociology 031516(s)

Micro-scale Ecometrics: Digital Imaging of Social Interaction

W. Michael JohnsonPolitical Science Adjunct Macualay Honors College CSI/CUNYSpitzer School of Arch. CCNY/CUNY

ESS / Digital Sociology, Boston March 17-18, 2016

“There’s too much value in a in-person meeting… face-to-face is like a river of information”

“Group” Study” Charles Duhigg, NYT, 02.28.2026


“In times of rapid change and constrained resources, measures that are important, focused, and reliable are vital. ”

“As the Data Deluge Grows, Companies Are Rethinking Storage ” Quentin Hardy, NYT, 03.15.2016


“We are commingling our cognitive space with the technological.”

Fitz, Nicholas S, and Peter B Reiner. “Time to Expand the Mind.” Nature 531.3 March (2016): S9 “Multi-modal analysis of video data and face-to-face interaction” National Centre for Research Methods (2013 )


“As the Data Deluge Grows, Companies Are Rethinking Storage ” Quentin Hardy, NYT, 03.15.2016

Paluck, Elizabeth Levy, Hana Shepherd, and Peter M. Aronow. “Changing Climates of Conflict: A Social Network Experiment in 56 Schools.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 113.3 (2016): 568


“No one can look at all of their data anymore. They need algorithms just to decide what to look at.”

“For most the impulse to flee from problem-driven theory to method-driven theory proves irresistible.”


Ian Shapiro, Flight from Reality in the Human Sciences, 2010, p. 22

“We live in places that have social meanings and structured differences inscribed all over them.”


Sampson, Robert, The Great American City: Chicago and the Enduring Neighborhood Effect,University of Chicago Press, 2012.

p, 374: on neighborhood choice. p. 182: on neighborhood collective efficacy

“The collective nature and spatial concentration of such phenomena have been overlooked”

“The process of dividing up a system into separate elements for analysis assumes that the separation is feasible in both principle and approach. This assumption fails spectacularly for complex sociotechnical systems.”


Carayon, Pascale et al. “Advancing a Sociotechnical Systems Approach to Workplace Safety – Developing the Conceptual Framework.” Ergonomics 0139.April (2015): 1–17.


iPhone 4 +oSnap ap+ matlab image processing code


Johnson, W Michael, Danuta A Nitecki, et. al.. Peer Engagement as a Common Resource. Ann Arbor, MI: The Society of College and University Planners, 201.

Project funded by:The Hideo Sasaki Foundation Drexel University

Danuta Nitecki Dean of Libraries, Professor, Drexel UniversityMichael John Khoo Drexel UniversityRonak Nathani Drexel UniversitySundar Ram Swaminathan Drexel University


Johnson, W Michael, Danuta A Nitecki, et. al.. Peer Engagement as a Common Resource. Ann Arbor, MI: The Society of College and University Planners, 201.

johnson ess digital sociology 031516(s)

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