Simon Munzert

Causal Inferences from Digital Behavioral Data - KZfSS Kölner Zeitschrift für Soziologie und Sozialpsychologie In recent years, digital behavioral data (DBD) have emerged as a powerful resource in social science research. Their ubiquity, granularity, complexity, and continuous collection provide new opportunit...

Joint paper with @floriankeusch.bsky.social out now: We discuss opportunities and challenges of causal inference from digital behavioral data, and methodological approaches for making these data fit for purpose:
link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Ich durfte in der @taz.de ein bisschen was zu Umfragen erzählen, und was soll ich sagen - Berichte über den Tod von Umfragen sind stark übertrieben...

Nochmal Glückwunsch, lieber Joff! Auf zu neuen Ufern! Füße aber besser nicht in den Neckar stecken.

Always a pleasure chatting with students who ask sharp questions 😊 Thanks to The Governance Post for having me - and yes, I stand by the autopilot line.

a man in a black shirt is making a funny face while sitting at a table . Alt: Guy at table trying to say something, gives up

School council election. Also running: the class clown. Annoying to all, impossible to ignore.

Kid 1: “I’ll vote for him. He’s in my class.”
Kid 2: “Nice poster! He'll get my vote.”
Kid 1: “Also, he promised better school lunches.”

Political scientist in me: slowly nodding, checking off the 2020s

Flashback to last year’s Data4Good Hackathon challenges!

🏛 Municipal Innovation (with @bertelsmannst.bsky.social): > Participants tackled the Wegweiser Kommune dataset, using 400+ indicators to map out the future of German municipalities.

This is the week we’ve been waiting for:
The Data4Good Festival 2026!

We are excited to host 70+ students from across Europe at the Hertie School for a weekend of data-driven innovation and creativity in the heart of Berlin.

Thanks for referring to our research, @donmoyn.bsky.social!

For those who want to understand the actions of authoritarian security organizations, here is the info kit of our forthcoming book “Making a Career in Dictatorship”.

It includes short chapter summaries and more:
tinyurl.com/599d6uc5

📢 Call for papers

9th Economics of Media Bias Workshop
Keynotes: Ruben Durante (NUS) and Pinar Yildrim (Wharton)

🗓️ May 28th-29th 2026
📍 Berlin, Germany
⏰ Deadline: January 31st 2026

Full CfP and information on how to submit: tinyurl.com/2s3f6tar

Please circulate!

Wann gab es bei Ihnen weiße Weihnachten? Hier finden Sie die Antwort auf die Schnee-Frage für Ihren Ort - als persönliches Geschenkpapier, Poster oder Grußkarte.

🎅2️⃣4️⃣❄ Weiße Weihnachten in ...? By @carlagrefehuge.bsky.social and André Pätzold interaktiv.morgenpost.de/schnee-an-we...

Dreaming of a white Christmas? Don’t get your hopes up—at least not in Germany. Anyway, Merry Christmas, everyone! 🎄

Wann gab es bei Ihnen weiße Weihnachten? Hier finden Sie die Antwort auf die Schnee-Frage für Ihren Ort - als persönliches Geschenkpapier, Poster oder Grußkarte.

🎅2️⃣4️⃣❄ Weiße Weihnachten in ...? By @carlagrefehuge.bsky.social and André Pätzold interaktiv.morgenpost.de/schnee-an-we...

A beautifully designed feature on a sad story. "As insects disappear, we’re losing the limbs and the twigs of the tree of life. We’re tearing it apart. And we’re leaving behind a very simplified and ugly tree."

Insect populations are declining at an unprecedented rate The most diverse group of organisms on the planet are in trouble and the consequences could be dire.

🎅2️⃣3️⃣ The collapse of insects. By @jhjanicki.bsky.social, @gloriadickie.bsky.social, Simon Scarr and Jitesh Chowdhury. www.reuters.com/graphics/GLO...

I can hardly think of a better example to motivate data science students by showing how their tools and investigative skills can be used to make real impact.

This is part one of a five-part investigation into detention camps in the Xinjiang region that won a Pulitzer Prize.

Blanked-Out Spots On China's Maps Helped Us Uncover Xinjiang's Camps China's Baidu blanked out parts of its mapping platform. We used those locations to find a network of buildings bearing the hallmarks of prisons and internment camps in Xinjiang. Here's how we did it.

🎅2️⃣2️⃣ China Built A Vast New Infrastructure To Imprison Uighurs, by @meghara.bsky.social, @alisonkilling.bsky.socialand @christobuschek.net @buzzfeed.com www.buzzfeednews.com/article/alis...

Pünktlich zu den Festtagen ein Tool zur Abschätzung, wie viel unterm Baum maximal gebechert werden sollte. Prost!

Alkoholkonsum: Wie riskant ist Ihr Alkoholkonsum? Daten des RKI zeigen: Fast ein Drittel der Erwachsenen trinkt Alkohol in gesundheitlich bedenklichen Mengen. Mit unserem Tool können Sie herausfinden, ob Sie dazugehören.

🎅2️⃣1️⃣ Wie riskant ist Ihr Alkoholkonsum? By @driven-by-data.net, @jakobbauer.bsky.social, Annick Ehmann, @selinarudolph.bsky.social, @florianschumann.bsky.social and Jan Schwenkenbecher. www.zeit.de/gesundheit/2... www.zeit.de/gesundheit/2... (freebie link)

YouTube video by Release - Topic O je, Tannenbaum!

PSA für alle Eltern, die mit dem Gedanken spielen, die Weihnachtsbäckerei anzuzünden und die Winterkinder auf dem Balkon auszusperren: Bestes Kinder-Weihnachtsalbum? Look no further www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxFn...

Inside the Suspicion Machine Obscure government algorithms are making life-changing decisions about millions of people around the world. Here, for the first time, we reveal how one of these systems works.

🎅2️⃣0️⃣ Inside the Suspicion Machine, by @evaconstantaras.bsky.social, @gabrielgeiger.bsky.social, @jusbraun.bsky.social, @dmehro.bsky.social, and Htet Aung from @lighthousereports.com in @wired.com www.wired.com/story/welfar...

The article makes the faultiness and consequences of algorithmic governance palpable — almost like scanning a restaurant bill. Awesome narration and visual communication.

A fascinating piece on Rotterdam’s welfare fraud algorithm, which shows how risk scoring and profiling slip into routine administration - aimed at people with the least room for error.

Inside the Suspicion Machine Obscure government algorithms are making life-changing decisions about millions of people around the world. Here, for the first time, we reveal how one of these systems works.

🎅2️⃣0️⃣ Inside the Suspicion Machine, by @evaconstantaras.bsky.social, @gabrielgeiger.bsky.social, @jusbraun.bsky.social, @dmehro.bsky.social, and Htet Aung from @lighthousereports.com in @wired.com www.wired.com/story/welfar...

Another one by @puddingviz.bsky.social. One of their earliest (and imo still best) from 2016, and one that should get you prepared for all the Christmas movies of the season...

The Largest Analysis of Film Dialogue by Gender, Ever Lately, Hollywood has been taking so much shit for rampant sexism and racism. The prevailing theme: white men dominate movie roles.

🎅1️⃣9️⃣ Film Dialogue, by Hanah Anderson and Matt Daniels pudding.cool/2017/03/film...

Same vibes

Wieviel CO2 kann ich mir noch leisten? Spielen Sie es durch! CO2-Budget pro Kopf: Was passt da noch rein, um den Klimawandel zu bremsen. Probieren Sie es aus - mit dem persönlichen Klima-Test.

🎅1️⃣8️⃣ Was passt noch in mein CO2-Budget? By Ida Flik, Luc Guillemot, André Pätzold and @benjazehr.ch. interaktiv.morgenpost.de/co2-budget-p...

I’ve never been to Singapore, but this article really makes me want to go. Beautifully told story, with interactive elements and image analysis woven right in. So good -absolutely delicious.

How hawker signboards tell the story of Singapore The Straits Times analysed over 250 signs across four hawker centres to find out how the look and feel of hawker signs have changed over time

🎅1️⃣7️⃣ How hawker signboards tell the story of Singapore, by Alyssa Mungcal, Charles Tampus, Cherie Lok, Lim Zu Ning, Nikita Pereira, Shannon Teoh, and Tara Trang @tst-news.bsky.social www.straitstimes.com/multimedia/g...