Lecture given at the National Center of Competence in Research: Challenges to Democracy in the 21st Century, 5 November 2015, Zürich University, Zürich, Switzerland

1. Doing Social and Political
Research in a Digital Age:
National Center of Competence in Research: Challenges to Democracy in the 21st Century
5 November 2015, Zürich, Switzerland
Liliana Bounegru | lilianabounegru.org | @bb_liliana
An Introduction to Digital Methods

3. An introduction to digital methods
for social and political research
1. What are digital methods?!
2. How to use digital methods for social and
political research!
3. Digital methods resources

4. An introduction to digital methods
for social and political research
1. What are digital methods?!
2. How to use digital methods for social and
political research!
3. Digital methods resources

5. Situated within current debates
about the digitisation of
social research

6. - Duncan J. Watts, “A twenty-first century science,” Nature, 2007
“Data about Internet-based communication and interactivity
could revolutionise our understanding of collective human
behaviour.”
!

7. – David Lazer et al., “Computational Social Science”, Science, 2009
“…[T]racing the spread of arguments, rumours, or positions
about political and other issues in the blogosphere, as well
as the behaviour of individuals ‘surfing’ the Internet, where
the concerns of an electorate become visible in the
searches they conduct.”

8. –Savage M. & Burrows, R. (2007). “The Coming Crisis of Empirical
Sociology”, Sociology
“…In an age of knowing capitalism, sociologists have not
adequately thought about the challenges posed to their
expertise by the proliferation of ‘social’ transactional data
which are now routinely collected, processed and analysed
by a wide variety of private and public institutions”

9. –Richard Rogers (2013). Digital Methods. MIT Press
“Google envy”: “the capacity of search engine companies
and social networking sites to collect data that approximates
both the type and the scale social scientists would like to
generate themselves”

10. Digital methods take up the challenge of rethinking the
methodological repertoires of social and political research
by creatively engaging with digital environments and their
devices

11. – Richard Rogers, “Political Research in the Digital Age”, International
Public Policy Review, 2014
“[Digital methods] refers to repurposing online devices
and platforms (such as Google searches, Facebook and
Wikipedia) for social and political research that would often
have been otherwise improbable.”

12. – Richard Rogers, “Political Research in the Digital Age”, International
Public Policy Review, 2014
“[Digital methods] encourage a sociological outlook or
imagination about research opportunities that exist in online
culture by following the medium rather than asking it to do
one’s disciplinary bidding.”

13. –Noortje Marres, “Re-distributing methods - digital social research as
participatory research,” 2011
“This approach accords to digital devices, search engines
chief among them, the capacity to generate potentially new
methods of social research.”

14. – Richard Rogers, “Political Research in the Digital Age”, International
Public Policy Review, 2014

15. Digital methods are …
!
(1) an approach to studying social and political
issues online (“issue mapping”, “controversy
mapping”, “digital STS”)
!
(2) an approach to the study of digital platforms to
makes visible the method and information politics of
digital devices
!
(3) a contribution to the methodological repertoire of
social and Internet studies and way to reflect on the
politics of methods of these disciplines

16. More concretely …

17. Digital Methods Initiative!
www.digitalmethods.net

18. Rogers, R. (2013) Digital Methods.
Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

19. DMI Summer School (2012)

20. Digital Methods Initiative (2014) DMI Tools.!
Available at: http://tools.digitalmethods.net

21. EMAPS (2014) “Climaps: A Global Issue Atlas of Climate Change Adaptation”!
Available at: http://climaps.org/

22. An introduction to digital methods
for social and political research
1. What are digital methods?!
2. How to use digital methods for social and
political research!
3. Digital methods resources

23. Rogers, R. & Kok, S. (2015)

24. Three methods and
some examples

25. Rogers, R. & Kok, S. (2015)

26. Rogers, R. & Kok, S. (2015)

27. Method 1: !
Web hyperlink analysis to study issue
networks and politics of association!

28. Project: !
Right-Wing Formations in Europe
and Their Counter-Measures: An
Online Mapping

29. The Guardian (2013) “The rise of far right parties across Europe is a chilling echo of the 1930s”.
Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/nov/15/far-right-threat-europe-integration

30. Huffington Post (2014) “Sudden Rise of Far Right Groups in EU Parliament Rings Alarm Bells Across
Europe”. Available at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/elinadav-heymann/sudden-rise-of-far-right-
_b_5512961.html

31. New York Times (2014) “Populist Party Gaining Muscle to Push Britain to the Right”.
Available at: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/08/world/europe/populist-party-gaining-muscle-to-push-
britain-to-the-right.html

32. What kinds of issues are most active
amongst far right groups?

33. How are far right extremist groups connected
to populist right and other right wing groups
online?

34. What are the recruitment methods
of far right groups?

35. Are current counter-measures proving
effective?

36. Profiles for 13 European countries.

37. Method!
1. Compile lists of links per country with expert input
2. Hyperlink analysis with the Issue Crawler
3. Study issues and actors in resulting networks

38. Tool:
The Issue Crawler

39. Marres, N. & Rogers, R. (2005) “Recipe for tracing the fate of issues and their publics on the Web”. Making
Things Public. Latour, B. & Weibel P. (eds). MIT Press.

40. “A software tool that locates and visualizes
networks on the web”

41. Issue Crawler: https://wiki.digitalmethods.net/Dmi/ToolIssueCrawler

46. Greece: blood and soil and organic markets

47. Rogers, R. et al (2013) “Right-Wing Formations in Europe and Their Counter-Measures: An Online
Mapping”. Digital Methods Initiative. https://wiki.digitalmethods.net/Dmi/RightWingPopulismStudy

49. Hungary: horse and yurt recruitment festivals

50. Rogers, R. et al (2013) “Right-Wing Formations in Europe and Their Counter-Measures: An Online
Mapping”. Digital Methods Initiative. https://wiki.digitalmethods.net/Dmi/RightWingPopulismStudy

52. Taking back the yurt?

53. Findings
Right-wing politics in the North is animated by Islamophobia while
the old right is still active in the South.
!
New issues (e.g. environment, anti-globalisation and rights),
principles and recruitment techniques animate right wing politics in
Europe today.
Counter-measures are often outdated (mismatch between activities
of the right and measures to counter them).
!

54. Rogers, R. & Kok, S. (2015)

55. Rogers, R. & Kok, S. (2015)

56. Method 2: !
Facebook analysis to study issue
formations and dynamics

57. Project 2: !
Mapping counter-Jihadist (anti-Islamist)
groups on social media

58. The Guardian (2012) “Far-right anti-Muslim network on rise globally as Breivik trial opens”.
Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/apr/14/breivik-trial-norway-mass-murderer

59. Hope Not Hate (2012) “Counter-Jihad Report”.
Available at: http://www.hopenothate.org.uk/counter-jihad/

60. Are different Counter-Jihadist groups in
Europe connected? If so how?

61. Methods!
!
1. Set up Facebook research account
!
2. Submit request to join Facebook groups of interest
making research intentions known in the request
!
3. Use the Netvizz application to extract (anonymised)
user activity data across groups

62. Tool:
Netvizz

63. Rieder, B. (2013). Studying Facebook via data extraction: the Netvizz application. In WebSci '13
Proceedings of the 5th Annual ACM Web Science Conference (pp. 346-355). New York: ACM.

64. “Netvizz is a tool that extracts data from
different sections of the Facebook platform
(personal profile, groups, pages) for research
purposes.”

65. Netvizz: https://tools.digitalmethods.net/netvizz/facebook/netvizz/

66. Digital Methods Initiative. “Counter-Jihadist Networks: Mapping
the Connections Between Facebook Groups in Europe.”

67. Digital Methods Initiative. “Counter-Jihadist Networks: Mapping
the Connections Between Facebook Groups in Europe.”

68. Findings
Facebook is an important medium for extremist
groups.
!
Three main clusters based on geographical proximity.
!
European Counter-Jihadist groups are networked and
transnational.
!
Most engaged with content is meme-like.

69. Who are the new leaders?

71. Findings!
!
Offline leaders are active on Facebook.
!
There are also new emerging online leaders
(Facebook group administrators).
!
New technique for identifying online leaders.

72. Rogers, R. & Kok, S. (2015)

73. Rogers, R. & Kok, S. (2015)

74. Method 3: !
Twitter analysis to study issue networks
and content engagement

75. Building a tweet collection
Rogers, R. & Bounegru, L. (2015)

76. Types of analysis
Rogers, R. & Bounegru, L. (2015)

77. “The Twitter Capture and Analysis Toolset
(DMI-TCAT) captures tweets and allows for
multiple analyses (hashtags, mentions, users,
search, ...).”
Tool

78. Borra, E. & Rieder, B. (2014) “Programmed method: developing a toolset for capturing and analyzing
tweets”. Aslib Journal of Information Management. Vol. 66 No. 3: 262-278.

79. TCAT: https://wiki.digitalmethods.net/Dmi/ToolDmiTcat

80. TCAT: https://wiki.digitalmethods.net/Dmi/ToolDmiTcat

81. Types of analysis
Rogers, R. & Bounegru, L. (2015)

82. Three techniques and
some examples

83. Types of analysis
Rogers, R. & Bounegru, L. (2015)

84. Types of analysis
Rogers, R. & Bounegru, L. (2015)

85. Project: !
Climaps: A Global Issue Atlas of
Climate Change Adaptation

86. http://climaps.org/

87. Can we read the current state of climate
action and adaptation from climate change
debates on Twitter?

88. Methods!
!
1. Create collection of tweets containing climate
change-related hashtags with TCAT
!
2. Extract hashtag co-occurence network file
from TCAT and import it into network analysis
software to compute clustering and other metrics.
!
3. Manually analyse and classify the resulting
hashtag clusters.

89. Tool:
Gephi

90. “Gephi is an interactive visualization and
exploration platform for all kinds of networks
and complex systems, dynamic and
hierarchical graphs.”

91. Bastian M., Heymann S., Jacomy M. (2009). “Gephi: an open source software for exploring and
manipulating networks.” International AAAI Conference on Weblogs and Social Media.

92. Gephi: http://gephi.org

93. Hashtags as embedded climate issues (co-hashtag analysis)
EMAPS (2014) “Climaps: A Global Issue Atlas of Climate Change Adaptation”!
Available at: http://climaps.org/

94. Wired Italia (2014) “Cambiamenti del clima: 20 anni di conferenze”. March 2014. No. 60.

95. Wired Italia (2014) “Beautiful Information, in mostra le migliori infografiche di Wired”.
Available at: http://www.wired.it/attualita/media/2014/03/04/beautiful-information-infografiche-wired/

96. Wired Italia (2014) “Beautiful Information, in mostra le migliori infografiche di Wired”.
Available at: http://www.wired.it/attualita/media/2014/03/04/beautiful-information-infografiche-wired/

97. Types of analysis
Rogers, R. & Bounegru, L. (2015)

98. Project: !
The Global Health and Development
Networks in Europe: An Online
Mapping

99. How is expertise defined across networks
and do different networks recognise the
same experts?

100. Methods!
!
1. Create two collections of tweets around global
health and development issues: (1) hashtag-
based and (2) user-based with TCAT
!
2. Extract ‘top most mentioned users’ files from
TCAT and map them in a scatterplot.
!
3. Manually analyse the scatterplot to understand
shared and distinct experts for the two networks.

101. 20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160
addthis
africandevjobs
agrobiodiverse
aiddata
allafrica
americares
anantbhan
bashh_uk
bbcnews
bbcr4today
bbcradio4
bbsrc
bennett123123
billgates
bmz_bund
camdiary
ccghr
cdcglobal
cfi_accion
cfigueres
cgap
cgdev
cgiar
cgiarclimate
chipublib
ciat_
cimmyt
climdevjournal
cnrs
conversationuk
coursera
csis
danrcorry
decappeal
dev_progress
devex
devpolicy
dfid_uk
dndi_hq
drgregmartinecdpm
epfl
equitylist
euractiv_fr
faonews
fogarty_nih
forbes
fordfoundation
fp2p
francetim
futurelearn
gatesfoundation
gavialliance
gaviseth
gchallenges
gdndevelopment
ghjournal
girleffect
globaldev
globaldevlab
globalfund
globalfundnews
globalhealth
globalinnovfund
gquaggiotto
guardian
guardiangdp
harvardhsph
helenclarkundp
huffingtonpost
huffpostimpact
ics_uk
idealist
ids_uk
ifadnews
ifmsa
ifpri
ihme_uw
ilonakickbusch
ilri
independent
info_tghn
intldogooder
intrahealth
ippf
irenekhan
jfishergh
jnjglobalhealth
johninnescentre
jonhutson
journagrants
julio_frenk
juxtamagazine
kaiserfamfound
kofiannan
l_haddad
lancetgh
lfeatherstone
livuninews
lizfordguardian
mathiasbonk
medicres
melindagates
mghfc
mshhealthimpact
mysgul
ncdfreenerdyev
nextbillion
nih
nprglobalhealth
nprnewsnytimes
odi_development
oecd_centre
onecampaign
oxfam
pathtweets
peacecorpspeterasinger
pezzapezzi
phat_controller
picardonhealth
pih
plus_socialgood
psiimpact
rajshah
reuters
rockefellerfdn rohanmalik_ey
rollbackmalaria
runijmegen
sandrodemaio
scidevnet
sciencemagazine
seiresearch
sharethis
sida
sightsavers
statedept
stevedavispath
stm_uutiset
techchange
telegraph
theeconomist
thelancet
timeshighered
timlaheymd
tonysangle
uc_newsroom
ucanr
ucberkeley
ucirvine
ucla
uclanewsroom
ucriverside
ucsf
ukcds
un
un_women
unaids
undp
unfpa
unicef
unuwider
usaid
usaidgh
uwglobalhealth
washingtonpost
wellcometrust
wfp
who
whydev
wle_cgiar
worldbank
wsj
wustlmedschool
youtube
lowerhigher
lowerhigher
Do the Gates grantees and the field
recognise the same experts?
@Mention analysis to identify expertise

102. Types of analysis
Rogers, R. & Bounegru, L. (2015)

103. Project: !
The Global Health and Development
Networks in Europe: An Online
Mapping

104. What content animates the global health and
development space on Twitter?

105. Methods!
!
1. Create hashtag-based collection of tweets
around global health and development issues.
!
2. Extract daily retweet frequency file from TCAT
and visualise it.
!
3. Manually analyse the content of the most
retweeted tweets to get a grasp of the content
that animates the issue space.

106. @WorldBank: Are you a young professional
interested in #globaldev? Apply for the World
Bank Young Professionals Program:
http://t.co/4Tj…
98
@WorldBank: Are you a young professional
interested in #globaldev? Apply for the World
Bank Young Professionals Program:
http://t.co/4Tj…
85
@WorldBank: Are you a young professional
interested in #globaldev? Apply for the World
Bank Young Professionals Program:
http://t.co/4Tj…
98
@Pezzapezzi: If the #world were 100 people
http://t.co/AGS85FWJic @gatesfoundation
@nerdyEV #globalhealth #epidemiolgy #stats
34
@WorldBank: Are you a young professional
interested in #globaldev? Apply for the
@WorldBank Young Professionals Program:
http://t.co/4Tj…
81
@WorldBank: Are you a young professional
interested in #globaldev? Apply for the
@WorldBank Young Professionals Program:
http://t.co/4Tj…
87
@WorldBank: Are you a young professional
interested in #globaldev? Apply for the
@WorldBank Young Professionals Program:
http://t.co/4Tj…
62
@WorldBank: Are you a young professional
interested in #globaldev? Apply for the
@WorldBank Young Professionals Program:
http://t.co/4Tj…
65
@medstudent_blog: Map of the world showing
which disease is most likely to kill you depending
on where you live #globalhealth http://t.c…
42
@nprGlobalHealth: Doctors Aren't Sure How To
Stop Africa's Deadliest #Ebola Outbreak
http://t.co/d13hSvefoS @nprnews
http://t.co/DkWg1L8…
106
@WorldBank: Are you a young professional
interested in #globaldev? Apply for the
@WorldBank Young Professionals Program:
http://t.co/4Tj…
84
@WorldBank: Are you a young professional
interested in #globaldev? Apply for the
@WorldBank Young Professionals Program:
http://t.co/4Tj…
67
@WorldBank: Are you a young professional
interested in #globaldev? Apply for the
@WorldBank Young Professionals Program:
http://t.co/4Tj…
93
@guardian: Empowering Indian women through
employment http://t.co/DpEKWtlYNC
#globaldev #women #india
48
@WorldBank: Are you a young professional
interested in #globaldev? Apply for the
@WorldBank Young Professionals Program:
http://t.co/4Tj…
65
Thanks @lfeatherstone @DFID_UK for hearing
our call to put people with disabilities
#InThePicture of #globaldev. Now time for
action!
97
@Cristina_Jaen: Mapa de enfermedad moales
según países http://t.co/yUoj5zvMlS
http://t.co/R3B7sRSc4a #globalhealth
91
@phat_controller: World Map of Killer Diseases
using WHO stats http://t.co/rvyEg22ACV
http://t.co/EbZhPTt0hi #globaldev #globalhealth
73
@phat_controller: Germany Grows No Coffee yet
earns more in coffee expos than all Africa's
coffee growers combined. #Globaldev http://…
106
@phat_controller: Germany Grows No Coffee yet
earns more in coffee expos than all Africa's
coffee growers combined. #Globaldev http://…
71
@Oxfam: The #BRICS Development Bank: Why
the world’s newest global bank must fight povey
& inequality http://t.co/NJcSO4w0D6 #globaldev
33
@RodSweet1: A simple tower designed to pull
water out of thin air. http://t.co/HHSVtZGwgy
#ethiopia #globaldev #sustainability http://t.…
18
@USAID: #GenderEquality & female empower-
ment are key to effective & sustainable
#globaldev outcomes: http://t.co/2b5ukdhzLn
https://t.co…
32
@RodSweet1: A simple tower designed to
harvest water from thin air.
http://t.co/HHSVtZGwgy #ethiopia #globaldev
#sustainability http://t…
20
@JAMA_current: MT @JAMADerm #Yaws:
Renewed Hope for Eradication
http://t.co/xP8v0fC39P #globalhealth
#tropicaldisease #treponema http://…
16
@WorldBankWater: The
World Water Dev Repo delves into #water and
#energy: http://t.co/TlT5bEHWl3 #wwweek
#globaldev http://t.co/q…
17
@jonhutson: Ebola and great ape trafficking: A
dangerous connection http://t.co/kNNU8PLRPn
#globalhealth
23
@Oxfam: The new #BRICS bank should offer a
new vision for development not more of the same
http://t.co/4tjjbRYdDk #globaldev
24
@DrFriedenCDC: The current #Ebola outbreak in
W. Africa is proof of the impoance of
#GlobalHealthSecurity: http://t.co/6UdTPYMStn
33
@GdnDevelopment: Can the world respond to
only one major disaster at a time?
http://t.co/IqlCg0Hysb #globaldev
20
@GdnDevelopment: QUIZ: How well do you know
the Millennium Development
Goals?http://t.co/ERxPA3JIlr #globaldev
#MDGMomentum http://t.co/…
50
@AALiberia: #Ebola is not just a health issue it's
a #gender issue. #EbolaOutbreak #Liberia
#globalhealth #globaldev http://t.co/cUEm7v…
47
@odi_development: The death toll in #Syria
keeps rising but media interest is waning. See
our infographic. #GlobalDev #Humanitarian
http…
69
@GuardianGDP: A beginner’s guide to infograph-
ics and data visualisation for NGOs
http://t.co/Eiq4tp4lRn #globaldev
http://t.co/jGoaTbuB2n
29
@odi_development: As #Syria refugees reach 3
million http://t.co/QDs4E50kC6 here is our media
coverage graph #GlobalDev #Aid #Jordan htt…
40
@LizFordGuardian: Calling all students. Write us
250 words on climate change and we'll publish
the best http://t.co/islQBK0l7Y #globaldev
29
@GdnDevelopment: Is it time to retire the term
development? Language matters argues Deborah
Doane http://t.co/0a186Awqeb #globaldev @do…
22
@SandroDemaio: I'll be talking #globalhealth
equity & the structural causes of disease -
tomorrow at #GHC #Sydney. #auspol http://t…
18
@SandroDemaio: ""Poor people should not get
poor solutions"" - urban planning & #globalhealth
at #GHC2014. @exerciseworks
@HelenClarkUNDP …
20
@GuardianGDP: Why gender disaster data
matters: ‘In some villages all the dead were
women’ http://t.co/y0PgEPk2iZ #globaldev
27
@sciencemagazine: Diseases that cause the
most burden don't get the most intl aid
http://t.co/2dL21D6IXk #globalhealth
http://t.co/QmR1A…
36
@dev_progress: #Brazil has massively and
sustainably increased electricity provision. Read
more: http://t.co/VAsAT4KdUB #GlobalDev htt…
27
@LizFordGuardian: Almost half of child deaths
occur in first month of life UN estimates
@UNICEF http://t.co/tltAkuUQRe #globaldev
28
@sciencemagazine: The state of #globalhealth
in http://t.co/19KaUkmuke #free
http://t.co/yZfPQtr7bb
47
@JNJGlobalHealth: .@Kathy_Calvin reminds us
we ALL have a role in advancing #gender equality
#2030Now #HeForShe #MDG456Live
http://t.co/…
21
@BrittanyHume: 700m women today--1 in 5
globally--were married as children. It's a
#globalhealth + #humanrights epidemic
@FordFoundation…
92
@rajshah: Just launched new @GlobalInnovFund
@ #MDGCountdown event: $200 million for
#innovation in #globaldev solutions
http://t.co/CIt…
16
@USAID: FACT: $1 of $3 spent on #globaldev is
lost due 2 recurrent crisis. Help us break the
cycle & #EndPovey. #GlobalResilience @grp…
22
@ONECampaign: 9 tips for using Twitter to tap
into the #globaldev community
http://t.co/8FPcb3d5qi http://t.co/oKoZX9y5Zh
25
@AnantBhan: A sobering dataset which
demonstrates why #Africa is struggling w/ the
spread of #Ebola #healthsystems #globalhealth
http://…
26
@julio_frenk: The response to the #Ebola crisis
calls into question the institutional architecture
for #globalhealth cooperation. http:/…
20
@UNICEF: Check out our new interactive data on
#malnutrition http://t.co/nPOY1ZVn0X
@UNICEFdata #globaldev
70
@GlobalDevLab: How can #designthinking help
in #fightingebola? @EbolaGC workshop today
using ideas & creativity to improve care through
…
23
@CGDev: Longer term lesson from #Ebola
epidemic: we need to be willing to spend more on
#globalhealth says @owenbarder:
http://t.co/YGr…
14
@Sida: The #Ebola outbreak in graphics by
@TheEconomist http://t.co/zRNMIseoir
http://t.co/KsK80RfJZP #GlobalDev
39
@WorldBank: What can satellites do for
#globaldev? Mapping water in #Zambia forest
loss in #Liberia: http://t.co/lhvBZpr20B
http://t.c…
63
@AnantBhan: Nurses-facing the brunt of the
#Ebola epidemic-- overworked underpaid most at
risk #globalhealth #nursing http://t.co/R1Dt…
16
@GFI_Tweets: How much money has your
country lost in #IllicitFlows? Find out here:
http://t.co/q47EwfJ65N #GlobalDev
http://t.co/oMsdx1T…
25
@Pezzapezzi: Contagiousness & deadliness of
#ebola compared to other infectious diseases
http://t.co/ekBh17j6lK #globalhealth http://t.c…
22
@AmeriCares: Almost half the word lives on less
than $2.50/day - Every day we confront the
#GlobalHealth consequences of povey. http:/…
19
@GFI_Tweets: How much has your country lost
in #IllicitFlows? Find out here:
http://t.co/q47EwfJ65N #GlobalDev
http://t.co/u1wYOZeeYx
15
@gavi: MT @resultsuk: Need some proof that
#VaccinesWork? Check out this infographic
#globalhealth http://t.co/YtdPXcdpWV
15
@StanfordMed: How researchers are exploiting
insect microbiomes to curb malaria and dengue:
http://t.co/mOP65TpbxJ #globalhealth
13
user: content of the tweet,
content of the tweet, content of the tweet
content of the tweet
RE-TWEET FREQUENCE NUMBER
user: content of the tweet,
content of the tweet, content of the tweet
content of the tweet
RE-TWEET FREQUENCE NUMBER
user: content of the tweet,
content of the tweet, content of the tweet
content of the tweet
HIGH RE-TWEET FREQUENCE NUMBER
(between 106-max- and 90)
More active user: content of the tweet,
content of the tweet, content of the tweet
content of the tweet
RE-TWEET FREQUENCE NUMBER
same tweet
Networked stories: What stories
circulate best in the global health and
development space?
Retweet analysis to tell story over time
Rogers, R. & Bounegru, L. (2015) “The Global Health and Development Issue Space in Europe:
Mapping the Network”

107. http://t.co/4Tj…
67
@WorldBank: Are you a young professional
nterested in #globaldev? Apply for the
@WorldBank Young Professionals Program:
http://t.co/4Tj…
93
@guardian: Empowering Indian women through
employment http://t.co/DpEKWtlYNC
#globaldev #women #india
48
@WorldBank: Are you a young professional
nterested in #globaldev? Apply for the
@WorldBank Young Professionals Program:
http://t.co/4Tj…
65
Thanks @lfeatherstone @DFID_UK for hearing
our call to put people with disabilities
#InThePicture of #globaldev. Now time for
action!
97
@Cristina_Jaen: Mapa de enfermedad moales
según países http://t.co/yUoj5zvMlS
http://t.co/R3B7sRSc4a #globalhealth
91
@phat_controller: World Map of Killer Diseases
using WHO stats http://t.co/rvyEg22ACV
http://t.co/EbZhPTt0hi #globaldev #globalhealth
73
@phat_controller: Germany Grows No Coffee yet
earns more in coffee expos than all Africa's
coffee growers combined. #Globaldev http://…
106
@phat_controller: Germany Grows No Coffee yet
earns more in coffee expos than all Africa's
coffee growers combined. #Globaldev http://…
71
@Oxfam: The #BRICS Development Bank: Why
he world’s newest global bank must fight povey
& inequality http://t.co/NJcSO4w0D6 #globaldev
33
32
@RodSweet1: A simple tower designed to
harvest water from thin air.
http://t.co/HHSVtZGwgy #ethiopia #globaldev
#sustainability http://t…
20
@JAMA_current: MT @JAMADerm #Yaws:
Renewed Hope for Eradication
http://t.co/xP8v0fC39P #globalhealth
#tropicaldisease #treponema http://…
16
@WorldBankWater: The
World Water Dev Repo delves into #water and
#energy: http://t.co/TlT5bEHWl3 #wwweek
#globaldev http://t.co/q…
17
@jonhutson: Ebola and great ape trafficking: A
dangerous connection http://t.co/kNNU8PLRPn
#globalhealth
23
@Oxfam: The new #BRICS bank should offer a
new vision for development not more of the same
http://t.co/4tjjbRYdDk #globaldev
24
@DrFriedenCDC: The current #Ebola outbreak in
W. Africa is proof of the impoance of
#GlobalHealthSecurity: http://t.co/6UdTPYMStn
33
@GdnDevelopment: Can the world respond to
only one major disaster at a time?
http://t.co/IqlCg0Hysb #globaldev
20
@GdnDevelopment: QUIZ: How well do you know
the Millennium Development
Goals?http://t.co/ERxPA3JIlr #globaldev
#MDGMomentum http://t.co/…
50
@AALiberia: #Ebola is not just a health issue it's
a #gender issue. #EbolaOutbreak #Liberia
#globalhealth #globaldev http://t.co/cUEm7v…
47
http://t.co/jGoaTbuB2n
29
@odi_development: As #Syria refugees reach 3
million http://t.co/QDs4E50kC6 here is our media
coverage graph #GlobalDev #Aid #Jordan htt…
40
@LizFordGuardian: Calling all students. Write us
250 words on climate change and we'll publish
the best http://t.co/islQBK0l7Y #globaldev
29
@GdnDevelopment: Is it time to retire the term
development? Language matters argues Deborah
Doane http://t.co/0a186Awqeb #globaldev @do…
22
@SandroDemaio: I'll be talking #globalhealth
equity & the structural causes of disease -
tomorrow at #GHC #Sydney. #auspol http://t…
18
@SandroDemaio: ""Poor people should not get
poor solutions"" - urban planning & #globalhealth
at #GHC2014. @exerciseworks
@HelenClarkUNDP …
20
@GuardianGDP: Why gender disaster data
matters: ‘In some villages all the dead were
women’ http://t.co/y0PgEPk2iZ #globaldev
27
@sciencemagazine: Diseases that cause the
most burden don't get the most intl aid
http://t.co/2dL21D6IXk #globalhealth
http://t.co/QmR1A…
36
@dev_progress: #Brazil has massively and
sustainably increased electricity provision. Read
more: http://t.co/VAsAT4KdUB #GlobalDev htt…
27
@LizFordGuardian: Almost half of child deaths
occur in first month of life UN estimates
@UNICEF http://t.co/tltAkuUQRe #globaldev
28
21
@BrittanyHume: 700m women today--1 in 5
globally--were married as children. It's a
#globalhealth + #humanrights epidemic
@FordFoundation…
92
@rajshah: Just launched new @GlobalInnovFund
@ #MDGCountdown event: $200 million for
#innovation in #globaldev solutions
http://t.co/CIt…
16
@USAID: FACT: $1 of $3 spent on #globaldev is
lost due 2 recurrent crisis. Help us break the
cycle & #EndPovey. #GlobalResilience @grp…
22
@ONECampaign: 9 tips for using Twitter to tap
into the #globaldev community
http://t.co/8FPcb3d5qi http://t.co/oKoZX9y5Zh
25
@AnantBhan: A sobering dataset which
demonstrates why #Africa is struggling w/ the
spread of #Ebola #healthsystems #globalhealth
http://…
26
@julio_frenk: The response to the #Ebola crisis
calls into question the institutional architecture
for #globalhealth cooperation. http:/…
20
@UNICEF: Check out our new interactive data on
#malnutrition http://t.co/nPOY1ZVn0X
@UNICEFdata #globaldev
70
@GlobalDevLab: How can #designthinking help
in #fightingebola? @EbolaGC workshop today
using ideas & creativity to improve care through
…
23
@CGDev: Longer term lesson from #Ebola
epidemic: we need to be willing to spend more on
#globalhealth says @owenbarder:
http://t.co/YGr…
14
63
@AnantBhan: Nurses-facing the brunt of the
#Ebola epidemic-- overworked underpaid most
risk #globalhealth #nursing http://t.co/R1Dt…
16
@GFI_Tweets: How much money has your
country lost in #IllicitFlows? Find out here:
http://t.co/q47EwfJ65N #GlobalDev
http://t.co/oMsdx1T…
25
@Pezzapezzi: Contagiousness & deadliness of
#ebola compared to other infectious diseases
http://t.co/ekBh17j6lK #globalhealth http://t.c…
22
@AmeriCares: Almost half the word lives on les
than $2.50/day - Every day we confront the
#GlobalHealth consequences of povey. http:/…
19
@GFI_Tweets: How much has your country lost
in #IllicitFlows? Find out here:
http://t.co/q47EwfJ65N #GlobalDev
http://t.co/u1wYOZeeYx
15
@gavi: MT @resultsuk: Need some proof that
#VaccinesWork? Check out this infographic
#globalhealth http://t.co/YtdPXcdpWV
15
@StanfordMed: How researchers are exploiting
insect microbiomes to curb malaria and dengu
http://t.co/mOP65TpbxJ #globalhealth
13
user: content of the tweet,
content of the tweet, content of the tweet
content of the tweet
RE-TWEET FREQUENCE NUMBER
user: content of the tweet,
content of the tweet, content of the tweet
content of the tweet
RE-TWEET FREQUENCE NUMBER
user: content of the tweet,
content of the tweet, content of the tweet
content of the tweet
HIGH RE-TWEET FREQUENCE NUMBER
(between 106-max- and 90)
More active user: content of the tweet,
content of the tweet, content of the tweet
content of the tweet
RE-TWEET FREQUENCE NUMBER
same tweet
Networked stories: What stories circulate best in
the global health and development space?
Rogers, R. & Bounegru, L. (2015) “The Global Health and Development Issue Space in Europe:
Mapping the Network”

108. To recap

109. How to use digital methods for
social and political research
!
List of digital platforms and types of analyses that they can be repurposed for (illustrative rather
than exhaustive)
Illustrated three types of analysis through projects where they have been utilised
Web hyperlink analysis to study issue networks and politics of association
Facebook analysis to study issue formations and dynamics
Twitter analysis to study issue networks and content engagement
Provided a sketch of the methods and tools behind each form of analysis
The Issue Crawler for hyperlink analysis and web network visualisation
Netvizz for exaction of data from Facebook groups and pages as tabular and network files
TCAT for data collection via the Twitter APIs and multiple network and statistical analyses
Gephi for network analysis and visualisation

110. An introduction to digital methods
for social and political research
1. What are digital methods?!
2. How to use digital methods for social and
political research!
3. Digital methods resources

111. Digital Methods Initiative (2014) DMI Tools.!
Available at: http://tools.digitalmethods.net

112. Sciences Po Media Lab (2014) “Tools we develop and tools we use”!
Available at: http://tools.medialab.sciences-po.fr/

113. Digital Methods Initiative (2015). Papers and Publications.!
Available at: https://wiki.digitalmethods.net/Dmi/PapersPublications

114. Issue Mapping Online (2015).!
Available at: http://issuemapping.net/

115. Join us for DMI Winter Schools and Summer Schools!

116. DMI Winter School 2016!
https://wiki.digitalmethods.net/Dmi/WinterSchool2016

117. In conclusion

118. !
Introduction the digital methods approach
Some conceptual background
How to do research with digital methods
Key forms of analysis, projects and tools
Additional resources
!
What we learned

119. How might digital methods be
useful in your own research?

120. Thank You!
Liliana Bounegru | lilianabounegru.org | @bb_liliana