Data Science for Migration and Mobility

Data Science for Migration and Mobility provides an interdisciplinary introduction to the usage of new data sources in migration and mobility research, including mobile phone records, social media content, satellite images, event and financial databases.

Migration is a complex phenomenon with multi-dimensional factors. With ever-expanding data storage and processing capabilities, new data sources (such as social media, mobile call data records, and satellite imaging) are becoming available to study migration from both qualitative and quantitative perspectives. Data Science for Migration and Mobility addresses the needs of both migration scholars who stand to benefit from the analysis of these new sources but lack the computational tools, as well as data scientists who have practical and theoretical knowledge in dealing with these data sources but have no familiarity with the relevant questions of migration research. It describes the main conceptual frameworks, explains techniques of data collection and processing, provides case studies, discusses the strengths and limitations of each data source, and critically discusses the ethical, legal, and privacy-related issues specific to each data source.