Teaching Computational Social Science Skills to Psychology Students: An Undergraduate Research Lab Case Study

Data science methods increasingly are utilized to analyze theoretically derived psychological research questions. This article provides a case study of a student-focused research experience that introduced basic data science skills and their utility for psychological research, providing practical learning experiences for students interested in learning computational social science skills. Skills included programming; acquiring, visualizing, and managing data; performing specialized analyses; and building knowledge about open-science practices. Using examples from their teaching experiences, the authors describe how these skills can be incorporated into an active and engaging student learning experience that culminates in computational social science projects and presentations.