SociQL: a query language for the social web

• Author / Creator

  Serrano Suarez, Diego Fernando

• Social network sites are becoming increasingly popular and useful as well as relevant means for serious social research. However, despite their user appeal and wide adoption, the current generation of sites are hard to query and explore, offering limited views of local network neighbourhoods. Moreover these sites are disconnected islands of information due to application and interface differences. We describe SociQL: a query language along with a prototype implementation that enables for the representation, querying and exploration of disparate social networks. Unlike generic web query languages, SociQL is designed to support the examination of sociological questions, incorporating social theory and integration of networks that form a single unified source of information. The thesis discusses the design and rationale for the elements in the language, and reports on our experiences in querying real social network sites with it.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Query language
  • Social networks
  • Data integration

• Graduation date

  Spring 2011

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Master of Science

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R3P651

• License

  This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.