Researching Russia with digital trace data

Abstract

The Russo-Ukrainian war and the deterioration of the relationship between Russia and the West made the application of traditional social science research methods, such as surveys and fieldwork, difficult for researchers. It is likely that in the foreseeable future students of Russia will have to increasingly rely on the data that can be collected online. Using these data has defined the field of computational social science and has many analytical advantages and come limitations. This paper provides a review of the sources of digital trace data for Russia and of the studies that used them for the analysis of political communication and behaviour, education, labour markets, discrimination, and the Russo-Ukrainian war.