With National Science Foundation support, the Sociology Department at UCLA will create an integrated, shared computing environment based on the Macintosh platform which allows for state-of-the-art computing in several research areas. The laboratory will consist of high-end Macintosh computers configured and networked for the following purposes: general use microcomputers with numeric co-processing capabilities; X-windows terminals; multimedia devices capable of audio and video recording and playback; multimedia devices usable for the analyses of documents, both textual and pictorial. This system will facilitate research in textual analyses, conversation and interaction analysis and statistical computing - all areas in which faculty members specialize. Historical sociologists rely heavily on texts and search and analyze them based on particular works and phrases - a very time consuming process. With the new system, it will be possible to scan such materials into the computer and conduct quick and efficient searches. This will facilitate current work such as the study of peasant economics and the relationship between agricultural production practices and a range of social variables. Interaction analyses focus on the relationship between individuals and this will be facilitated by two laboratories with visual and sound equipment. Issues such as the relationship between doctors and patients can be studied and feedback is directly useful in physician training. Because, in good part, of lack of appropriate instrumentation, powerful new techniques developed by statisticians are rarely used in the social sciences and the equipment provided will make many of these available not only to senior researchers, but to graduate and undergraduate students as well.
