Dr Milena Tsvetkova COL8.06

This course is available on the MPhil/PhD in Social Research Methods. This course is available with permission as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit.

This course introduces students to the fundamentals of computer programming as students design, write, and debug computer programs using the programming language Python and R. The course will also cover the foundations of computer languages, algorithms, functions, variables, object­orientation, scoping, and assignment. The course will rely on practical examples from computational social science and social data science.

Students will learn how to design algorithms to solve problems and how to translate these algorithms into working computer programs. Students acquire skills and experience as they learn Python and R, through programming assignments with an approach that integrates project-based learning. This course is an introduction to the fundamental concepts of programming for students who lack a formal background in the field, but will include more advanced problem-solving skills in the later stages of the course. Topics include algorithm design and program development; data types; control structures; functions and parameter passing; recursion; data structures; searching and sorting; and an introduction to the principles of object-oriented programming. The primary programming languages used in the course will be Python and R.

This course is delivered through a combination of classes and lectures totalling a minimum of 20 hours across Michaelmas Term. This year, some or all of this teaching may be delivered through a combination of virtual classes and flipped-lectures delivered as short online videos.

This course has a reading week in Week 6 of MT.

Students will be expected to produce 10 problem sets in the MT.

Students will work on weekly, structured problem sets in the staff-led class sessions. Example solutions will be provided at the end of each week.

• Guttag, John V. Introduction to Computation and Programming Using Python: With Application to Understanding Data. MIT Press, 2016.
• Lutz, Mark Learning Python. 5th Edition. O’Reilly, 2013. Intermediate and Advanced documentation at https://www.python.org/doc/.
• Miller, Bradley N. and David L. Ranum. Problem Solving with Algorithms and Data Structures Using Python. Available online at http://interactivepython.org/runestone/static/pythonds/index.html.
• Python, Intermediate and advanced documentation. Available online at https://www.python.org/3doc/.
• Venables, William N., David M. Smith, and the R Core Team. An Introduction to R. Available online at https://cran.r-project.org/doc/manuals/r-release/R-intro.pdf.
• Zuur, Alain, Elena N. Ieno, and Erik Meesters. A Beginner's Guide to R. Springer Science & Business Media, 2009.

Project (50%) and problem sets (50%) in the MT.

For the individual project, students will be required to develop Python software that addresses a sufficiently complex computational social science task. Examples of possible projects include a software package that collects and analyses online data, an experimental game, or an agent-based model. Marking of this assessment will be at a level appropriate for PhD students.