About

The Initiative

The Initiative for Data-Driven Social Science (DDSS) was launched in the summer of 2019 after significant planning and discussion about enhancing the social science data infrastructure at Princeton. In October 2017, a document outlining the creation of a new Center for Data-Driven Social Science called upon the initiative to serve three key roles: 

  1. Serve the needs of the present and (gently) nudge us toward the future. 
  2. Create public goods for both Princeton and the world. 
  3. Ensure Princeton’s long-term position of preeminence in the social sciences and promote the University’s growth into data-driven science. 

In the summer of 2019, Nolan McCarty, Susan Dod Brown Professor of Politics and Public Affairs, was appointed as the faculty director of DDSS.

Rocío Titiunik, Professor of Politics, became the new faculty director in September 2023.

 

Welcome from DDSS Director, Professor Rocío Titiunik

I am delighted to serve as the new Director of the Initiative for Data-Driven Social Science. I am looking forward to continuing the great programs and initiatives that the DDSS team has built in the last years, and to furthering DDSS’s mission of supporting data science innovation in the social sciences at Princeton. I am eager to learn more about the interests and needs of the DDSS community, and I encourage you to get in touch.

Provost's Charge

To test out ideas and explore strategies for encouraging and supporting the use of data (including 'big data') in academic research in the social sciences at Princeton.

Our Mission Statement

To enhance the support of data-, computation-, and IT-intensive social science research at Princeton. To build a multidisciplinary community of faculty, graduate and postdoctoral users of such tools to foster both resource sharing and collective problem solving. To encourage innovation in data- and computationally-intensive social science research to better position Princeton as a leader in the area. 

Governance

DDSS is led by a faculty director, and overall strategy and key programmatic and funding decisions are made by an executive committee. A technical advisory group was formed in January 2020 to advise DDSS on how best to integrate programming, services, and staff into the overall data and research ecosystem at Princeton. The technical advisory group members are charged with providing feedback and assistance on a host of DDSS components (e.g., websites, events, training, infrastructure, etc.) that may impact/intersect with campus stakeholders.