W. Michael Johnson: Microscale Ecometrics 031516

Micro-scale Ecometrics: Digital Imaging of Social Interaction

W. Michael Johnson Poli&cal Science Adjunct Macualay Honors College CSI/CUNY Spitzer 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


“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 Na1onal 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

“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.

“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”


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 University Michael John Khoo Drexel University Ronak Nathani Drexel University Sundar 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.

Data & Analytics

W. Michael Johnson: Microscale Ecometrics 031516