Looking into the future of research: innovative methodologies for a digital society
Issued on: Tue 23rd Feb 2021
By: Bishakha Chaudhury and Dr. Lavinia Hirsu (edited by Emma Seddon and Dr. Dominic Chalmers)
Starting with December 2020, the Digital Society and Economy Interdisciplinary Group have been hosting a series of workshops on Innovative Research Methodologies for a Digital Society. Our digital selves are being harnessed by algorithms, digital data sets, social media networks and integrated technologies. The workshops introduce and explore new and pioneering ways of collecting, processing and investigating digital data, paying particular attention to the interplay of ongoing changes and challenges of our digital world. Researchers present their methods and methodologies along with insights into the background of why they used it, their experience of setting them up and adapting it for their studies, as well as the limitations and ethical considerations that they had to take into account.
The first workshop we hosted was presented by Emma Seddon from the School of Education (University of Glasgow) on ‘The insights and limitations of analysing Twitter networks in mixed methods research’. Emma shared her assemblage method for evaluating Twitter networks to explore professional identities and professionalism within the translation industry. She used social network analysis techniques, such as k-core decomposition to visualize the nodes and edges as condensation of the interaction of the Twitter users. This helped to understand which users were the major players of the network, who were the gatekeepers of other networks and the users who were marginalised in the conversation. Emma also talked about the limitations and the importance of being specific on the data to be collected.
Dr Dominic Chalmers from the Adam Smith Business School (University of Glasgow) showcased a novel data collection method in the second workshop: ‘Using Ecological Momentary Assessment to Understand Complex Processes of Social and Digital Change’. Dr Chalmers explained “Ecological Momentary Assessment” as repeated sampling of behaviours from participants in real time, a method which originated in social psycology. The method addresses empirical weaknesses introduced by response bias, recall bias and oversimplification in post-event data collection. A diary-based study has the potential to be in-situ in terms of data-collection, but much is left up to the user with regards to when, where and to what extent it is filled in. The solution Dr. Chalmers offered was to build a digital app called Evi which could be an in-situ digital diary on a mobile device where data is automatically time-date stamped when entered. It can be set up to give interval reminders for update or participants can be nudged for a response when a significant event happens e.g. tax-rise, tax-cut or divisive political announcements. The data format can be Likert scales, multiple choice, voice memo, video, pictures and geo-location. It could potentially be modified to take in physiological measures like heartbeat and blood pressure from smart watches.
Upcoming workshops planned in these series :
- Computational Ontologies
- Social data science and Network analysis
- Data-Prompted Interviews
- Tracing Apps: contact tracing and proximity behaviour
The workshops are open to postgraduate students, Early Career Researchers, as well as experienced researchers who want to learn about new methodologies or share their own experiences with the methods presented in the workshop. Each workshop will focus on a new method/methodology tried and tested in various contexts. The workshops are meant to provide participants with the opportunity to learn about that method/methodology and ask questions about the process of implementing it. Each workshop will last 50 minutes: 20-30 min. speaker's presentation and 20-30 min. Q&A.
Register to attend the latest workshop:
Workshop 6: Citation network analysis: science mapping and citation bias.
Friday 5 November 2021, 12:00 - 13:00
Abstract:
In this talk, Dr Rhodri I. Leng provides an overview of citation network analysis – an application of network analysis to bibliometric data. This a method for representing the scientific literature on any given area of interest as an interconnected network of papers – with connections from a citing paper to the cited paper.
He will be focusing particularly on:
- the detection of particular research topics via community detection algorithms;
- the detection of citation bias in the literature.
During his talk, Dr Leng will highlight where to find relevant data, the tools that are available to help you get started with your own networks, and where to access further training.
The Digital Society & Economy IRT invites you to a new series of online workshops on innovative digital methods and methodologies.
About this event
Innovative Research Methodologies for a Digital Society (IRMDS): Workshop 6 image
After a successful first series of methods workshops, The Digital Society and Economy IRT invites you to a new series of online workshops on exciting, innovative and cutting edge digital methods and methodologies. Our first in the series is the following event:
Title: Citation network analysis: science mapping and citation bias.
Invited speaker: Dr Rhodri I. Leng
Abstract:
In this talk, Dr Rhodri I. Leng provides an overview of citation network analysis – an application of network analysis to bibliometric data. This a method for representing the scientific literature on any given area of interest as an interconnected network of papers – with connections from a citing paper to the cited paper. He will be focussing particularly on: (i) the detection of particular research topics via community detection algorithms; (ii) and the detection of citation bias in the literature. During his talk, Dr Leng will highlight where to find relevant data, the tools that are available to help you get started with your own networks, and where to access further training.
Bio:
Dr Rhodri I. Leng is a sociologist of science specialising in how science develops: how its findings spread and influence opinion, and the biases that undermine this process. His research concerns developing understanding of how the structure of citation networks affects the spread of information across the scientific literature, how the spread of information affects the development of scientific opinion, and involves integrating this understanding into theories of scientific development. An important element of his work involves developing methods to detect citation bias and other citation distortions in the literature. This involves methods of systematic literature retrieval, systematic review and meta-analysis, citation network analysis, and content analysis. He has published his work in international peer-reviewed journals in both the social and natural sciences, and has recently published a monograph with MIT Press, ‘The Matter of Facts: Skepticism, Persuasion, and Evidence in Science’. The material in this workshop is drawn from courses he runs at Edinburgh that focus on training students in the social and biomedical sciences to perform systematic review and network analyses
If you have any questions or would like to propose a workshop in this series, contact Lavinia.Hirsu@glasgow.ac.uk