In the new edition of the handbook *Methods of Empirical Social Research*, edited by Nina Baur and Jörg Blasius, the chapter ‘Machine Learning’ by Sven Hilbert and Stefan Coors has been published by Springer (external link, opens in a new window). This standard reference work systematically compares qualitative and quantitative methods in social research in terms of their challenges, principles, procedures and quality criteria. In 140 articles, experts provide an overview of the current state of research, with a focus on digital methods, surveys and contemporary data types. For the first time, the handbook also addresses the changes brought about by artificial intelligence. The chapter ‘Machine Learning’ offers an accessible introduction to machine learning methods, highlighting the opportunities they present for empirical social research and explaining how they differ from traditional statistical methods.
