Rogers studyingpoliticalissues mar2014_optimized_ii_

STUDYING POLITICAL ISSUES IN THE DIGITAL AGE RICHARD ROGERS

POLITICAL RESEARCH ONLINE WITH DIGITAL METHODS

1. Conceptual History of Online Research, 1994-2014

2. Digitized versus (Natively) Digital Methods

3. Doing Political Research with Digital Methods (neo-empirical research traditions)

4. The Future of Political Research with Digital Methods in Social Media (e.g., Twitter)


>1. Conceptual History of Online Research, 1994-2014




WHERE ARE WE NOW?FROM VIRTUAL TO SOCIETAL SPACE 3 VIRTUALS, OR 3 WAYS OF SEEING THE WEB

Web as Cyberspace (1994-2000) Virtual as distinct from the real. Virtual studies

Web as Virtual Society? (2000-2007) Virtual is part of the real. Offline as baseline

Web as Virtual? Society (2007- ) 'Virtual' as indication of the real. Online as baseline

Now: Use online data about society & culture, and make 'online grounded' claims

WEB AS DATA

The Internet offers an entirely different channel for understanding what people are saying... Tracing the spread of arguments, rumors, or positions about political and other issues in the blogosphere… [T]he concerns of an electorate become visible in the searches they conduct. They offer ample opportunities for research that would otherwise be impossible or unacceptable. D. Lazer et al., Computational Social Science, Science, 323, 2009.

Web data as offering the previously impossible and unacceptable



>2. Digitized versus (Natively) Digital Methods



DIGITIZED METHODS

Online surveys - Finding the mailing lists to send them to Online samples - Become difficult. Knowability of population?

Online interviews - Record interviewees?

Online user studies - Browser histories?

Online investigative reporting - Order of fact-checking changes?

Imported and migrated methods adapted slightly to the online

NATIVELY DIGITAL

In computing, software has a native mode when it is written for a specific processor. In computing, software has native support when it is written for a specific operating system. Methods are native when "written for the medium"

Natively digital is meant in a computing sense

DIGITAL METHODS

Digital Methods research steps: Which objects and data are available? (links, tags, timestamps...)

How do dominant devices and platforms handle them?

How to learn from and repurpose the device methods?

Are findings grounded in the online? Is the online the baseline?

Distinction between methods that migrate to the medium and those ‘native’ to it




>3. Doing Political Research with Digital Methods (neo-empirical research traditions)


DIGITAL METHODSOBJECTS &APPROACHES

Hyperlinks - Show related sites, good to make a sample (for censorship research)

2 Search Engines - As research machines to detect partisanship and bias

3. Wikipedia - As cultural reference to study the politics of memory (reconciliation)

4. Social Media Platforms - As site to study political preference

5. Twitter - As machine providing accounts of events on the ground

A Censored Network: Iranian Social, Political and Religious SitesA hyperlink analysis method for censored Website discovery.

© 2006 Govcom.org and ONI

06

Internet Censorship Visualizations________________________2006

Data_by OpenNet Initiative and map by Issuecrawler.net.

Analysis_by Richard Rogers, Nart Villeneuve and Erik

Borra, and design_by Marieke van Dijk.

A Censored Network: Iranian Social, Political and Religious Sites

IRAN

Legend

Blocked sites

Newly discovered blocked sites

Accessible sites

Inaccessible site (owing to DNS issue)

A co-production between the Govcom.org Foundation, Amsterdam, and the

OpenNet Initiative, a partnership between the Citizen Lab at the Munk

Centre for International Studies, University of Toronto, the Berkman Center

for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School, the Advanced Network

Research Group at the Cambridge Security Programme at Cambridge

University, and the Oxford Internet Institute, Oxford University.

medusa2000.com

Newly discovered blocked sites:

http://home.bip.net/radiohambastegi/http://ir.mondediplo.com/http://www.alahwaz.com/http://www.ashoob.com/http://www.asre-nou.net/http://www.bbc.co.uk/persian/http://www.channelonetv.com/http://www.didgah.com/http://www.didgah.net/http://www.fadaee.org/http://www.fedayi.org/http://www.fwhi.org/http://www.geocities.com/~fedaian/http://www.gozareshgar.com/http://www.iran-jommelli.com/http://www.iranazad.com/http://www.irandokht.com/http://www.komalah.org/http://www.kvinnonet.org/http://www.mani-poesie.de/http://www.medusa2000.com/http://www.mihan.net/http://www.negah1.com/http://www.peykeiran.com/http://www.radio-international.org/http://www.radiobarabari.net/http://www.rdki.com/http://www.roozonline.com/http://www.shahrvand.com/http://www.zagros.info/

alahwaz.com

alefbe.com

amnesty.org

ashoob.comasre-nou.net

avairan.com

avayeashena.com

avayezan.com

azadi-iran.org

baztab.com

bbc.co.uk/persian

channelonetv.com

cpiran.org

didgah.com

didgah.net

etehadchap.com

etehadefedaian.org

ettelaat.com

fadaee.org

fadai.org

fadaian.org

fedayi.org

forughfarrokhzad.org

fwhi.org

geocities.com/~fedaian

golshan.com

golshirifoundation.org

gooya.com

gozareshgar.com

hadisara.com

hamshahri.net

hayateno.org

home.bip.net/radiohambastegi

i-w-o.org

ihrwg.org

ilna.ir

ir.mondediplo.com

iran-chabar.de

iran-e-sabz.org

iran-emrooz.de

iran-jommelli.com

iran-newspaper.com

iran.mojahedin.org

iranazad.com

irandokht.com

iransocialforum.org

irna.com

isnagency.com

jebhe.orgjebhemelli.net

jebhemelli.org

jonge-khabar.com

kanoon-zendanian.org

kargar.org

kasravi.info

komala.org

komalah.org

kvinnonet.org

mani-poesie.de

marxists.org

marzeporgohar.org

mihan.net

nashrieh-nameh.com

negah1.com

nehzateazadi.orgnews.gooya.com

panahjoo.compayvand.com/news

pdk-iran.org

peiknet.com

peykeiran.com

radio-international.org

radiobarabari.net

radiofarda.com

radiokomaleh.com

radis.orgrahekargar.netranjbaran.org

rdki.com

rfi.fr/fichiers/Langues/rfi_persan_main.asp

rooydad.com

roozonline.com

roshangari.com

rowzane.com

sarbedaran.org

sh-shafa.com

shahrvand.com

shamlou.org

shamlu.com

sharareha.com

sharghnewspaper.com

siahkal.com

siasate-kargari.com

tehrantimes.com

toufan.org

tudehpartyiran.org

un.org

voanews.com

womeniniran.com

wpiran.org

wsu-iran.org

zagros.info

zan.org

Method & Findings:

Using Issuecrawler.net, crawl URLs (on 30 March

2006) from the OpenNet Initiative's list of Iranian

social, political and religious sites. Find network of

sites through one iteration of co-link analysis

(pictured). Fetch each site through a proxy in Iran

(on 18 May 2006). Discover sites previously

unknown to be blocked. Compare newly discovered

blocked sites with entire list of Iranian Websites

checked by the OpenNet Initiative. The finding is

the discovery of 30 blocked sites in Iran.

Size of node indicates inlink count from network.

LINK ANALYSIS TO STUDYCENSORSHIP IN CHINA

Build list of Falun Gong websites

Crawl them and expand list (of related sites) with Issuecrawler

Check URLs for blocking in the Censorship Explorer tool

Color code Issuecrawler map to show extent of censorship

How effective is the censorship of Falun Gong sites (and content)?

CENSORSHIP MAPS:IRAN & CHINA

The map are double-edged. They may be used by the censors, too.

Conclusions



>2 Search Engines - As research machines to detect partisanship and bias




SEARCH ENGINE AS RESEARCH MACHINE

Search as research. Transform 'consumer information appliance’ into 'research machine.’ (Use research browser) Query individual sites (Google site: query) to find bias, partisanship and commitments. (Use the Google Scraper aka Lippmannian Device available at tools.digitalmethods.net).

How to repurpose Google for social research?

Select Method & Visualization

The GoogleScraper queries Google and makes the results available for further analysis. In the top text box, place URLs. In the bottom text box, place key words. Google will be asked if each keyword occurs in each URL. Results are outputted as tag clouds, html tables and text files.

SEARCH ENGINE AS RESEARCH MACHINE

Use� a� distinct� browser� for� research� Log� out� of� any� Google� services� Disable� customization� based� on� signed-out� search� activity� � � -� removes� personalization� of� web� history� � � -� removes� personalization� of� (social)� network� � � -� retains� localization� on� geography� (e.g.,� .nl)

Install and use a Research Browser

1. Derive list of climate change skeptics

Method

S. Fred SingerRobert BallingSallie BaliunasPatrick MichaelsRichard LindzenSteven MilloyTimothy BallPaul DriessenWillie SoonSherwood B. IdsoFrederick Seitz

Skeptics

1. Derive list of climate change skeptics2. Query Google for “Climate Change” and retain top 100

results3. Harvest URLs from the results4. Enter URLs into top box of GoogleScraper, and the skeptics’names in the bottom box.

REPURPOSING GOOGLE

Climate Change Sceptics on the Web (Frederick Seitz)

Research Question_To what extent are climate change 'skeptics' present in the climate change spaces on the Web?Findings_There is distance between the skeptics and the top of the search engine returns.

Source_google.comQuery_“Frederick Seitz”Method_Search for query “Frederick Seitz” in top 100. Organized in order.Tools_Google Scraper and Tag Cloud GeneratorDate_30 July 2007

Product_of the Digital Methods Initiative, dmi.mediastudies.nl. Analysis_by Bram Nijhof, Richard Rogers and Laura van der Vlies. Design_Anne Helmond.

CC_BY:NC:SA

campaigncc.org (1)

climateark.org (4)marshall.org (8)

realclimate.org (35)sourcewatch.org (21)

abc.net.au (0)

acfonline.org.au (0)

bbc.co.uk (0) bom.gov.au (0)

cbc.ca (0)

ciel.org (0)

climatechallenge.gov.uk (0)

climatechange.ca.gov (0)

climatechange.com.au (0)

climatechangecentral.com (0)

climatechangecollege.org (0)

climatecrisis.net (0)

climatescience.gov (0)

dar.csiro.au (0)

davidsuzuki.org (0)

defra.gov.uk (0)

dfat.gov.au (0)

ec.gc.ca (0)

ecn.ac.uk (0)

ecokids.ca (0)

ecy.wa.gov (0)

eea.europa.eu (0)

eldis.org (0)

energy.gov (0)

envirolink.org (0)

epa.gov (0)

exploratorium.edu (0)

faqs.org (0)

foe.co.uk (0)

ft.com (0)

g8.gov.uk (0)

gcrio.org (0)

greenpeace.org (0)

grida.no (0)

guardian.co.uk (0)

iea.org (0)

iisd.org (0)

ipcc.ch (0)

iucn.org (0)

ltscotland.org.uk (0)

metoffice.gov.uk (0)

mfe.govt.nz (0)

mofa.go.jp (0)

nature.com (0) nature.org (0)

ncdc.noaa.gov (0)

open2.net (0)

panda.org (0)

pewclimate.org (0)

royalsoc.ac.uk (0)

scidev.net (0)

scienceagogo.com (0)

state.gov (0)

theglobeandmail.com (0)

ucar.edu (0)

un.org (0)

unep.org (0)

who.int (0)

whoi.edu (0)

worldwildlife.org (0)

CLIMATE CHANGESCEPTICS

Climate Change Sceptics on the Web (Sherwood Idso)


Source_google.comQuery_“Sherwood Idso”Method_Search for query “Sherwood Idso” in top 100. Organized in order.Tools_Google Scraper and Tag Cloud GeneratorDate_30 July 2007


CC_BY:NC:SA

realclimate.org (42)sourcewatch.org (14) climatescience.gov (0)

greenpeace.org (0) campaigncc.org (1)

climateark.org (1)

abc.net.au (0)



cbc.ca (0)

ciel.org (0)







dar.csiro.au (0)

davidsuzuki.org (0)

defra.gov.uk (0)

dfat.gov.au (0)

ec.gc.ca (0)

ecn.ac.uk (0)

ecokids.ca (0)

ecy.wa.gov (0)

eea.europa.eu (0)

eldis.org (0)

energy.gov (0)

envirolink.org (0)

epa.gov (0)


faqs.org (0)

foe.co.uk (0)

ft.com (0)

g8.gov.uk (0)

gcrio.org (0) grida.no (0)

guardian.co.uk (0)

iea.org (0)

iisd.org (0)

ipcc.ch (0)

iucn.org (0)


marshall.org (0)


mfe.govt.nz (0)

mofa.go.jp (0)


ncdc.noaa.gov (0)

open2.net (0)

panda.org (0)

pewclimate.org (0)

royalsoc.ac.uk (0)

scidev.net (0)


state.gov (0)


ucar.edu (0)

un.org (0)

unep.org (0)

who.int (0)

whoi.edu (0)



Climate Change Sceptics on the Web (Sallie Baliunas)


Source_google.comQuery_“Sallie Baliunas”Method_Search for query “Sallie Baliunas” in top 100. Organized in order.Tools_Google Scraper and Tag Cloud GeneratorDate_30 July 2007


CC_BY:NC:SA


realclimate.org (55)abc.net.au (0)



cbc.ca (0)

ciel.org (0)







dar.csiro.au (0)

davidsuzuki.org (0)

defra.gov.uk (0)

dfat.gov.au (0)

ec.gc.ca (0)

ecn.ac.uk (0)

ecokids.ca (0)

ecy.wa.gov (0)

eea.europa.eu (0)

eldis.org (0)

energy.gov (0)

envirolink.org (0)

epa.gov (0)


faqs.org (0)

foe.co.uk (0)

ft.com (0)

g8.gov.uk (0)


guardian.co.uk (0)

iea.org (0)

iisd.org (0)

ipcc.ch (0)

iucn.org (0)



mfe.govt.nz (0)

mofa.go.jp (0)


ncdc.noaa.gov (0)

open2.net (0)

panda.org (0)

pewclimate.org (0)

royalsoc.ac.uk (0)

scidev.net (0)


state.gov (0)


ucar.edu (0)

un.org (0)

unep.org (0)

who.int (0)

whoi.edu (0)


greenpeace.org (0) campaigncc.org (0)

sourcewatch.org (0) climatescience.gov (0)


Climate Change Sceptics on the Web (Robert Balling)


Source_google.comQuery_“Robert Balling”Method_Search for query “Robert Balling” in top 100. Organized in order.Tools_Google Scraper and Tag Cloud GeneratorDate_30 July 2007


CC_BY:NC:SA

campaigncc.org (2)


realclimate.org (11)

sourcewatch.org (4)

greenpeace.org (0)

climatescience.gov (11)

abc.net.au (0)



cbc.ca (0)

ciel.org (0)







dar.csiro.au (0)

davidsuzuki.org (0)

defra.gov.uk (0)

dfat.gov.au (0)

ec.gc.ca (0)

ecn.ac.uk (0)

ecokids.ca (0)

ecy.wa.gov (0)

eea.europa.eu (0)

eldis.org (0)

energy.gov (0)

envirolink.org (0)

epa.gov (0)


faqs.org (0)

foe.co.uk (0)

ft.com (0)

g8.gov.uk (0)


guardian.co.uk (0)

iea.org (0)

iisd.org (0)

ipcc.ch (0)

iucn.org (0)



mfe.govt.nz (0)

mofa.go.jp (0)


ncdc.noaa.gov (0)

open2.net (0)

panda.org (0)

pewclimate.org (0)

royalsoc.ac.uk (0)

scidev.net (0)


state.gov (0)


ucar.edu (0)

un.org (0)

unep.org (0)

who.int (0)

whoi.edu (0)



ISSUE AND SOURCE CLOUDS

The clouds show at a glance partisanship but also watchdog behaviour.

Conclusions




>3. Wikipedia - As cultural reference to study the politics of memory (reconciliation)



WIKIPEDIA AS CULTURAL REFERENCE

As articles mature, they may express a national as opposed toneutral point of view. Neutral to whom? Compare article elements: title, authors (or editors), table of contents, images and references. Also: location of the anonymous editors (based on IP address), and a reading of the talkpages. How to have language Wikipedia versions show cultural reference?

How to show the politics of memory (and reconciliation)?

Referenced hosts in the Srebrencia articles per Wikipedia language version, colored by frequency, and ordered by frequency and by alphabet, 20 December 2010

1 2 3 4 5 6

Serbian Bosnian Dutch Croatian Serbo-Croatian English un.org un.org un.org un.org un.org un.org srebrenica.ba srebrenica.ba icty.org srebrenica.ba srebrenica.ba srebrenica.ba

icty.org ic-mp.org groene.nl icty.org srebrenica-zepa.ba icty.org

bosnia.org.uk idc.org.ba vandiepen.com bosnia.org.uk srebrenica.nl bosnia.org.uk guardian.co.uk srebrenica-zepa.ba books.google.nl guardian.co.uk vladars.net guardian.co.uk

ic-mp.org helsinki.org.yu dutchbat.luchtmobiel.nl icj-cij.org ic-mp.org

icj-cij.org hlc.org.yu dutchbat1.com idc.org.ba icj-cij.org

iwpr.net ogrish.com emperors-clothes.com iwpr.net idc.org.ba

news.bbc.co.uk sense-agency.com nu.nl news.bbc.co.uk iwpr.net nytimes.com vladars.net ochtenden.nl nytimes.com news.bbc.co.uk ohr.int dzemat-oberhausen.de volkskrant.nl ohr.int nytimes.com srebrenica-zepa.ba inzl.unsa.ba vreme.com ohr.int vreme.com preventgenocide.org balkaninsight.com vreme.com

128.121.186.47 srebrenica-genocide.blogspot.com bim.ba 128.121.186.47

b92.net zeneucrnom.org domovina.net b92.net helsinki.org.yu edition.cnn.com balkaninsight.com hlc.org.yu europarl.europa.eu bim.ba news.independent.co.uk independent.co.uk domovina.net

ogrish.com newsweek.com edition.cnn.com reuters.com pbs.org europarl.europa.eu slobodan-milosevic.org potocarimc.ba groene.nl

Burial of 465 identi!ed Bosniaks,Poto"ari, 2007.

Map of the Srebrenica military operations, made by the U.S. Central

Intelligence Agency, with green arrow showing the route of the

Bosnian forces.

Map of the location of Srebrenica, the Republika Srpska, Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Srebrenica-Poto"ari Memorial and Cemetery, Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Grave of a 13-year old Bosniak boy.

Ratko Mladic.

An exhumed body with blindfold and hands tied behind his back. As of September 2012, the photo has been removed from Wikipedia article.

Exhumed grave of victims, 2007.

Podrinje Identi!cation Project's facility for storing, processing, and handling exhumed remains..

"UN left 8,000 to die in Bosnia." Headline in The Independent,

30 October 1995.

Satellite photo of Nova Kasabamass grave.

International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, Den Haag,

the Netherlands.

Srebrenica Genocide Memorial Stone at Poto"ari, with the victim count of 8,372.

Skull exhumed outside of Poto"ari, July 2007.

Wall of names at the Srebrenica Genocide Memorial.

War-damaged buildings in Srebrenica.

The Bosniak enclaves of Srebrenica and Zepa, declared safe areas by the U.N. in 1993.

DUTCH ENGLISH BOSNIAN CROATIAN SERBIAN SERBO-CROATIAN

COMPARATIVE REFERENCE AND IMAGE GRIDS

The reference and image grids show 'alignment' and non-alignments of 'national' cultural accounts. They may be seen as indicators of current state of politics of memory and reconciliation.

Conclusions





>4. Social Media Platforms - As site to study political preference and engagement


POLITICAL PREFERENCE

Do friends of political party leaders have similar interests? Aggregate friends' interest and show compatibility. One may also show compatibility of interests (e.g., Islam andChristianity).

Social media profile and interest data as source for studying political preference

ENGAGEMENT IN CAUSES

Which content has the most (and most consistent) likes,shares, comments and liked comments in Facebook pages and groups? What animates users to engage?

Social media data as means to study content engagement

F O R Z A N U O VA S I C I L I A

ATA K A

P L ATA F O R M AP E R C ATA L U N YA

R I S P O S T EL A I Q U E

L I G U E D ED E F E N C EF R A N C A I S E

P E R U S S U O M A L A I S E T

S I O EF R A N C E

V O TAF O R Z A N U O VA A L L EC O M U N A L ID I M I L A N O

N O R -W E G I A N

D E F E N C E L E A G U E

S W E D I S HD E F E N C EL E A G U E

D E R D A N S K EV O R E N I N G

PA X E U R O PA

F R E M S K R I T T S PA R T I E T SV E N N E R

E S PA Ñ A2 0 0 0

B R I T I S HN AT I O N A LPA R T Y

S I O EE N G L A N DS

IAD

DE

NM

AR

K

SIO

ED

EU

TS

CH

LAN

D

B L O CI D E N T I TA I R E

PREFERENCE AND ENGAGE-MENT IN SOCIAL MEDIA

Preference. Like sociometric or psychometric profiles, the aggregated interests of politicians' friends provide the politics of TV shows, music, movies and media more generally. Engagement. Likes, shares, comments and liked comments are seen as forms of engagement in content for causes.

Conclusions






>5. Twitter - As machine providing accounts of events on the ground

TWITTER STUDIES WITH DIGITAL METHODS

First, decide whether you are studying Twitter I, Twitter II or Twitter III Twitter I: Banal, phatic, ambient friend-following Twitter II: News-following, elections and disasters Twitter III: Generic data on social phenomena, any topic

Digital Methods contributions to the study of social media

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TWITTER I, TWITTER II, TWITTER III

Twitter I (2006-2009): Urban lifestyle tool (origins) and 'Banal' Tagline: "what are you doing?" Twitter II (2009-2012): Elections, disasters and revolutions. Tagline: "what's happening?" Twitter III (2012- ): Research tool and data market Tagline: "compose new tweet"

'Twitter' as object of study and critique

Berman, Ari (2009), “Iran's Twitter Revolution,” The Nation blog, The Nation, 15 June.

method.

Step 1: Capture all tweets with #iranelection between 10 and 30 June 2009, and archive them at rettiwt.net.

the collection.

#iranelection dataset (10-30 June 2009):

Tweets tagged with #iranelection: 653,883Unique number of Twitter users with #iranelection tag: 99,811

Twitter users of #iranelection with multiple tweets: 46,702Twitter users of #iranelection with more than 20 tweets: 6,000

Twitter users of #iranelection with 1 tweet: 53,109 Twitter users of #iranelection who were retweeted: 36,913

Twitter users of #iranelection retweeted multiple times: 16,336Twitter users of #iranelection retweeted at least 10 times: 2,829

Twitter users of #iranelection retweeted 1 time: 20,577Number of languages using #iranelection: 26

Number of tweets with #iranelection in English: 612,373

method.

Step 2. Filter out top 3 RTs per day

Turn Twitter into sory-telling machine

T

What’s happening in Iran just after the disputed election (DMI, 2009)?

Mousavi holds an emergency press conference. The voter turn-out is 80%. SMS is down; Mousavi’s website and Facebook are blocked. Police are using pepper spray. Mousavi is under house arrest; he is prepared for martyrdom. Neda is dead. There’s a riot in Baharestan Square. First aid info is here. Bon Jovi sings “Stand by Me” in support. Ahmadinejad is confirmed the winner.

Light a candle for the ppl of Iran.

DIGITAL METHODSFOR POLITICAL RESEARCHONLINE

Hyperlink analysis for censorship research

2 Search engine queries for partisanship research

3. Wikipedia comparisons for the study of the politics of memory (and reconciliation)

4. Social media platforms to study political preference and engagement in causes

5. Twitter to make an account (and timeline) of events on the ground

POLITICAL STUDIES ONLINE THANK YOU

See also: R. Rogers, _Digital Methods_, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2013 Digital Methods Initiative, http://www.digitalmethods.net Contact: [email protected] Come to the 2014 Digital Methods Summer School!

Rogers studyingpoliticalissues mar2014_optimized_ii_

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