UC Berkeley’s flagship institute for social science research

Our purpose is captured in our name: we provide an organizational framework—a “matrix”—that supports cross-disciplinary research pursued by social scientists across the University of California, Berkeley campus and beyond.

California Spotlight

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Event Date: September 24th, 2025
4:00pm-5:30pm

California Spotlight: Tech Authoritarianism

The rise of powerful tech entities and the rapid advancement of digital technologies are giving way to new forms of control, raising concerns about tech authoritarianism and its impact on democratic processes and communities. This panel will bring together experts to delve into the manifestations of tech authoritarianism, with a particular focus on its emergence and implications within California. The panel will include Elijah Baucom, Finn Brunton, and Lee Crandall, with James Holston moderating.

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Matrix News

Published January 26, 2016

Tips for Computational Text Analysis

Social science researchers are increasingly enlisting computer-driven textual analysis to help their research. This article provides an overview of the key steps required for this kind of analysis, with a focus on resources available at UC Berkeley.

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Matrix News

Published December 17, 2015

Crowdsourcing Social Research

The capability to democratically distribute tasks within a directed project presents novel possibilities for researchers—and social scientists at UC Berkeley are taking advantage.

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Interview

Published December 9, 2015

Juana María Rodríguez: “Statistics and Queer Theory”

Professor Juana María Rodríguez, from UC Berkeley's Department of Gender and Women’s Studies, suggests that scholars in the field of Queer Studies would benefit from a turn to statistics as a lens into bisexuality and other identities.

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Grants and Opportunities

Published October 4, 2015

Hanks Receives Staley Book Prize

Congratulations to William F. Hanks, UC Berkeley Distinguished Chair in Linguistic Anthropology and Director of Social Science Matrix, for receiving the 2015 J.I. Staley Book Prize, one of the most prestigious prizes in the field of anthropology.

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Matrix News

Published September 24, 2015

Fall 2015 Matrix Seminars Underway

Covering topics ranging from climate change and race relations to polarization in Europe and the study of metaphor, a new series of interdisciplinary seminars are underway at Social Science Matrix.

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Interview

Published September 22, 2015

Robin T. Lakoff: “What’s Up With Upspeak?”

The linguistic phenomenon known as “upspeak” has long been linked to a broader pattern of gender relations, thanks to the work of UC Berkeley’s Robin T. Lakoff, Professor Emerita in the Department of Linguistics.

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