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This chapter reviews the new sources of social data being made available by a combination of new data services and changes in government policy on access to administrative records. It also notes the rapid expansion of born digital and big social data – of which social media comprise but one, admittedly high profile, example. In the chapter, Purdam and Elliot examine how access to the new data opens up new opportunities for social researchers and, drawing on an eight-point typology of new kinds of social data, they present a series of real world examples to illustrate how the social sciences can benefit from them. They also discuss some of the potential challenges for social researchers of using these new sources of social data, such as variable data quality, questionable generalizability and representativeness, and restrictions on free access to some kinds of social media data, and they explore the implications of these and other challenges for the practice of social science research.

Purdam and Elliot argue that the almost effortless capacity to collect new kinds of social data poses the risk that researchers will neglect theory in favour of more data-driven methods. They also speculate on how access to social data in real time (‘datastreams’) might lead to a blurring of the boundaries between research and policy intervention. Finally, in what is a recurring theme throughout this book, they examine some of the ethical issues that accompany the use of new forms of social data in research.