ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Computational sociology

Computational sociology is when people who like computers use them to look at patterns and information about how people act and the things they do. It's like when you do a puzzle, but instead of using your hands, you use a computer to put pieces together and find out why people do things a certain way.

For example, if we wanted to know how people use social media, we can use a computer to collect and analyze data about what people post, how often they post, and how many likes and comments they get. We can then try to figure out why people like certain things and what makes them share it with others.

To do this, the people who like computers use lots of different techniques like data mining, machine learning, and network analysis. They use these tools to sort through lots of information and find patterns that help us understand how society works.

Overall, computational sociology is a really cool way for people who love computers and people to work together to better understand how we interact with each other and the world around us.