In collaboration with the Institute for Social Science Research and the Department of Economics, the UMass Computational Social Science Institute invites you to the weekly CSSI seminar:

Julia Lane
New York University, Center for Urban Science Progress (CUSP)
Friday, April 1, 2016 • 12:30 p.m.-2:00 p.m.
Computer Science Building, Room 150/151
Lunch will be provided, beginning at 12:00
Talk begins at 12:30

Title: What Social Science Research Brings to Big Data Research: A View From Experience
Abstract: The world of big data offers enormous opportunities for social science, but social scientists have a great deal to offer, to a (data) world that is currently looking to computer scientists to provide answers. Three major areas in which social scientists can contribute, based on decades of experience and work with end users, include causal inference, data quality and addressing privacy and confidentiality. This talk discusses each of these in turn using examples drawn from a new largescale social science data infrastructure constructed using big data techniques.
Bio: Julia Lane is a Professor in the Wagner School of Public Policy at New York University. She is also a Provostial Fellow in Innovation Analytics and a Professor in the Center for Urban Science and Policy at NYU. Dr. Lane is an economist and has authored over 65 refereed articles and edited or authored seven books. She has been working with a number of national governments to document the results of their science investments. Her work has been featured in several publications including Science and Nature. Dr. Lane started at the National Science Foundation (as Senior Program Director of the Science of Science and Innovation Policy Program) to quantify the results of federal stimulus spending, which is the basis of the new Institute for Research on Innovation and Science at the University of Michigan. Dr. Lane has had leadership positions in a number of policy and data science initiatives at her other previous appointments, which include Senior Managing Economist at the American Institutes for Research; Senior Vice President and Director, Economics Department at NORC/University of Chicago; various consultancy roles at The World Bank; and Assistant, Associate and Full Professor at American University. Dr. Lane received her PhD in Economics and Master’s in Statistics from the University of Missouri.