N Schwitter
Biographic Data
| ID | 50665 |
|---|---|
| NAME | N Schwitter |
| GIVEN NAMES | N |
| FAMILY NAME | Schwitter |
| SIGNATURE | SCHWITTER N |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Warwick |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-3837-680X |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 14 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 11 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 14 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2019 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 1 |
Text as Data and Causal Inference in Sociology
This article discusses and showcases approaches to causal inference with text as data, focusing on the challenges and opportunities that arise when sociological constructs are embedded in language. We highlight that text embeds latent constructs and comes with a number of measurement challenges: Variables of interest must be interpreted through coding, feature extraction, and modelling choices. We distinguish between three central designs: when t…
Disability discrimination in hiring: A systematic review
Sometimes, a descriptive figure is worth more than a thousand model coefficients: The importance of data description in social research
Response to Thomas Hinz and Sandra Walzenbach
Using Artificial Intelligence to Generate Visual Vignettes in Factorial Survey Experiments
Factorial survey experiments are widely used in the social sciences to study decision-making and attitudes through controlled, experimentally manipulated scenarios – typically presented as text. While textual vignettes offer flexibility and ease of use, they often lack realism and may limit participant engagement. This article explores how generative artificial intelligence (AI) can be used to create customisable images for visual vignettes. It d…
Using large language models for preprocessing and information extraction from unstructured text: A proof-of-concept application in the social sciences
Recent months have witnessed an increase in suggested applications for large language models (LLMs) in the social sciences. This proof-of-concept paper explores the use of LLMs to improve text quality and to extract predefined information from unstructured text. The study showcases promising results with an example focussed on historical newspapers and highlights the effectiveness of LLMs in correcting errors in the parsed text and in accurately …
Using Natural Experiments to Uncover Effects of Anti-Refugee Riots on Attitudes of Refugees
While previous research has focused on terrorist attacks and natives’ attitudes towards immigration, we examine the effect of anti-refugee attacks on refugees’ attitude towards the host country. We use survey data from the 33rd wave of the German Socio-Economic Panel as the fieldwork period overlapped with the infamous anti-refugee riots in Bautzen and as the survey includes a refugee sample. Making use of this natural experiment, we find signifi…
Offline connections, online votes: The role of offline ties in an online public election
Building democratic communities and fostering inclusive participation is challenging, especially in participatory organisations where governance and sustained contributions are critical. This study explores the dynamics of election participation within the peer-production project Wikipedia, a prime example of an online collaboration model of democratic organisation where democratically elected administrators wield special rights. While previous r…
Not Cologne but the data collection (might have) changed everything: A Cautionary Tale on Ignoring Changes in Data Recording in Sociological Research
In his 2020 ESR article, Arun Frey analysed data on ethnic violence that he web-scraped from a chronicle of hostile incidents against refugees, published by a German charitable foundation and a non-profit organization. He finds remarkable and supposedly causal effects of the New Year's Eve sexual assaults in 2015/2016 on anti-refugee violence. We argue that it is invalid to draw conclusions regarding the effects of the New Year's Eve event due to…
Does living in districts with higher levels of ethnic violence affect refugees’ attitudes towards the host country? Empirical evidence from Germany
While there are many quantitative studies examining the determinants of ethnic violence from the perspective of offenders, less is known about the effects of violence on the victims or target groups. In light of the increased refugee migration in Germany in 2015/2016, we provide empirical evidence that living in districts with a past of ethnic violence against refugees affects refugees’ perception of the host country negatively. We are using surv…
Social capital in retirement villages: A literature review
Retirement villages are a model of extra-care housing, offering purpose-designed housing that incorporates both care services and a range of non-care-related facilities and activities. These generate opportunities for formal and informal social activity, and promote community engagement, solidarity between residents, and active and independent ageing. Providers suggest that retirement villages are able to foster an environment rich in social capi…
Big data and development sociology: An overview and application on governance and accountability through digitalization in Tanzania
The digital revolution and the widespread use of the internet have changed many realms of empirical social science research. In this paper, we discuss the use of big data in the context of development sociology and highlight its potential as a new source of data. We provide a brief overview of big data and development research, discuss different data types, and review example studies, before introducing our case study on active citizenship in Tan…
Explaining Ethnic Violence: On the Relevance of Geographic, Social, Economic, and Political Factors in Hate Crimes on Refugees
Many Western societies experience recurring patterns of violence against ethnic minorities, immigrants, refugees, and other asylum seekers, making it important to better understand which conditions increase (or decrease) the likelihood of hate crimes. In this article, we test the relevance of different geographic, social, economic, and political conditions for attacks on refugees. To this end, we conduct an event-history analysis for Germany betw…
Objective Status, Subjective Status and Prosociality of Swiss Apprentices
In previous research, both positive and negative relationships between social status and prosociality have been reported. We argue that the nature of the observed status can explain these divergent findings. In an experimental study with technical and commercial apprentices, we show that objective status can have a positive effect on prosocial behaviour and that subjective status can have a negative effect when controlling for objective status
Explaining Ethnic Violence: On the Relevance of Geographic, Social, Economic, and Political Factors in Hate Crimes on Refugees
Many Western societies experience recurring patterns of violence against ethnic minorities, immigrants, refugees, and other asylum seekers, making it important to better understand which conditions increase (or decrease) the likelihood of hate crimes. In this article, we test the relevance of different geographic, social, economic, and political conditions for attacks on refugees. To this end, we conduct an event-history analysis for Germany betw…
Not Cologne but the data collection (might have) changed everything: A Cautionary Tale on Ignoring Changes in Data Recording in Sociological Research
In his 2020 ESR article, Arun Frey analysed data on ethnic violence that he web-scraped from a chronicle of hostile incidents against refugees, published by a German charitable foundation and a non-profit organization. He finds remarkable and supposedly causal effects of the New Year's Eve sexual assaults in 2015/2016 on anti-refugee violence. We argue that it is invalid to draw conclusions regarding the effects of the New Year's Eve event due to…
Big data and development sociology: An overview and application on governance and accountability through digitalization in Tanzania
The digital revolution and the widespread use of the internet have changed many realms of empirical social science research. In this paper, we discuss the use of big data in the context of development sociology and highlight its potential as a new source of data. We provide a brief overview of big data and development research, discuss different data types, and review example studies, before introducing our case study on active citizenship in Tan…
Objective Status, Subjective Status and Prosociality of Swiss Apprentices
In previous research, both positive and negative relationships between social status and prosociality have been reported. We argue that the nature of the observed status can explain these divergent findings. In an experimental study with technical and commercial apprentices, we show that objective status can have a positive effect on prosocial behaviour and that subjective status can have a negative effect when controlling for objective status
Explaining Ethnic Violence: On the Relevance of Geographic, Social, Economic, and Political Factors in Hate Crimes on Refugees
Many Western societies experience recurring patterns of violence against ethnic minorities, immigrants, refugees, and other asylum seekers, making it important to better understand which conditions increase (or decrease) the likelihood of hate crimes. In this article, we test the relevance of different geographic, social, economic, and political conditions for attacks on refugees. To this end, we conduct an event-history analysis for Germany betw…
Does living in districts with higher levels of ethnic violence affect refugees’ attitudes towards the host country? Empirical evidence from Germany
While there are many quantitative studies examining the determinants of ethnic violence from the perspective of offenders, less is known about the effects of violence on the victims or target groups. In light of the increased refugee migration in Germany in 2015/2016, we provide empirical evidence that living in districts with a past of ethnic violence against refugees affects refugees’ perception of the host country negatively. We are using surv…
Social capital in retirement villages: A literature review
Retirement villages are a model of extra-care housing, offering purpose-designed housing that incorporates both care services and a range of non-care-related facilities and activities. These generate opportunities for formal and informal social activity, and promote community engagement, solidarity between residents, and active and independent ageing. Providers suggest that retirement villages are able to foster an environment rich in social capi…
Big data and development sociology: An overview and application on governance and accountability through digitalization in Tanzania
The digital revolution and the widespread use of the internet have changed many realms of empirical social science research. In this paper, we discuss the use of big data in the context of development sociology and highlight its potential as a new source of data. We provide a brief overview of big data and development research, discuss different data types, and review example studies, before introducing our case study on active citizenship in Tan…
Not Cologne but the data collection (might have) changed everything: A Cautionary Tale on Ignoring Changes in Data Recording in Sociological Research
In his 2020 ESR article, Arun Frey analysed data on ethnic violence that he web-scraped from a chronicle of hostile incidents against refugees, published by a German charitable foundation and a non-profit organization. He finds remarkable and supposedly causal effects of the New Year's Eve sexual assaults in 2015/2016 on anti-refugee violence. We argue that it is invalid to draw conclusions regarding the effects of the New Year's Eve event due to…
Using Natural Experiments to Uncover Effects of Anti-Refugee Riots on Attitudes of Refugees
While previous research has focused on terrorist attacks and natives’ attitudes towards immigration, we examine the effect of anti-refugee attacks on refugees’ attitude towards the host country. We use survey data from the 33rd wave of the German Socio-Economic Panel as the fieldwork period overlapped with the infamous anti-refugee riots in Bautzen and as the survey includes a refugee sample. Making use of this natural experiment, we find signifi…
Offline connections, online votes: The role of offline ties in an online public election
Building democratic communities and fostering inclusive participation is challenging, especially in participatory organisations where governance and sustained contributions are critical. This study explores the dynamics of election participation within the peer-production project Wikipedia, a prime example of an online collaboration model of democratic organisation where democratically elected administrators wield special rights. While previous r…
Disability discrimination in hiring: A systematic review
Sometimes, a descriptive figure is worth more than a thousand model coefficients: The importance of data description in social research
Response to Thomas Hinz and Sandra Walzenbach
Using Artificial Intelligence to Generate Visual Vignettes in Factorial Survey Experiments
Factorial survey experiments are widely used in the social sciences to study decision-making and attitudes through controlled, experimentally manipulated scenarios – typically presented as text. While textual vignettes offer flexibility and ease of use, they often lack realism and may limit participant engagement. This article explores how generative artificial intelligence (AI) can be used to create customisable images for visual vignettes. It d…
Using large language models for preprocessing and information extraction from unstructured text: A proof-of-concept application in the social sciences
Recent months have witnessed an increase in suggested applications for large language models (LLMs) in the social sciences. This proof-of-concept paper explores the use of LLMs to improve text quality and to extract predefined information from unstructured text. The study showcases promising results with an example focussed on historical newspapers and highlights the effectiveness of LLMs in correcting errors in the parsed text and in accurately …
Text as Data and Causal Inference in Sociology
This article discusses and showcases approaches to causal inference with text as data, focusing on the challenges and opportunities that arise when sociological constructs are embedded in language. We highlight that text embeds latent constructs and comes with a number of measurement challenges: Variables of interest must be interpreted through coding, feature extraction, and modelling choices. We distinguish between three central designs: when t…
Sociology (8 works) · Political science (7 works) · Psychology (6 works) · Criminology (4 works) · Law (4 works) · Migration, Refugees, and Integration (4 works) · Refugee (4 works) · Social science (4 works) · Business (3 works) · Computational and Text Analysis Methods (3 works)