Mapping Issues with the Web: An Introduction to Digital Methods
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This document summarizes an introduction to digital methods given by Liliana Bounegru and Jonathan Gray. It discusses 5 stories that use digital methods to analyze topics related to climate change negotiations, the rise of far-right groups in Europe, health worker migration, responses to Wikileaks cables, and the influence of climate change skeptics. It also discusses 5 innovations in digital methods including using social media and the web as data, and using search engines as research tools. The document provides examples of findings from these different studies and tools used in digital methods like Netvizz and TCAT.
![– Sue George, “Assessing the cause and effect of health
worker migration”, The Guardian, 18th January 2011.
“[a 2010 global code of practice] sets out
guiding principles and voluntary international
standards for recruitment of health workers, to
increase the consistency of national policies
and discourage unethical practices”](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/digitalmethods20140922-161004152359/85/Mapping-Issues-with-the-Web-An-Introduction-to-Digital-Methods-71-320.jpg)
![– Richard Rogers, Digital Methods
(Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2013), pp.7-8
“The skeptics were increasingly at the top of the
news. […] Are the skeptics at the top of the
web too?”](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/digitalmethods20140922-161004152359/85/Mapping-Issues-with-the-Web-An-Introduction-to-Digital-Methods-87-320.jpg)
![– Bernhard Rieder. “Studying Facebook via data extraction:
the Netvizz application.”
“The main tenet of [social network analysis] is to
envision groups and other social units as
networks, that is, as connected ensembles that
emerge from tangible and direct connections
(friendships, work relationships, joint leisure,
direct interactions, etc.) rather than as social
categories.”](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/digitalmethods20140922-161004152359/85/Mapping-Issues-with-the-Web-An-Introduction-to-Digital-Methods-119-320.jpg)
Mapping Issues with the Web: An Introduction to Digital Methods
- 1. mapping issues with the web: an introduction to digital methods 23rd September 2014, Columbia University Liliana Bounegru | lilianabounegru.org | @bb_liliana" Jonathan Gray | jonathangray.org | @jwyg
- 2. 15 things you always wanted to know about digital methods but were afraid to ask
- 3. 5 stories" 5 innovations" 5 opportunities
- 4. hmmm…
- 5. hmmm…
- 6. hmmm…
- 7. 5 stories" 5 innovations" 5 opportunities" + 2 reflections
- 8. 15 things you always wanted to know about digital methods but were afraid to ask
- 9. 5 stories
- 10. story #1:" mapping dominant topics and countries in UN climate negotiations
- 11. – Leo Hickman, “Can carbon offsetting ever be truly green?”, The Guardian, 3rd September 2008. “In what seems like a flash, the climate-change debate has lurched from talk of mitigation to one of adaptation.”
- 12. The Atlantic (2014) “The UN's New Focus: Surviving, Not Stopping, Climate Change”. Available at: http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2014/04/the-uns-new-focus-surviving-not- stopping-climate-change/359929/
- 14. Can the shift from mitigation to adaptation be observed in the UNFCCC negotiations?
- 15. Venturini, T., Baya-laffite, N., Cointet, J., Gray, I., Zabban, V., & De Pryck, K. (2014) “Three Maps and Three Misunderstandings : A Digital Mapping of Climate Diplomacy.” Big Data and Society, 2014, 1(1). Available at: http://medialab.sciences-po.fr/publications/misunderstandings/
- 16. Findings" Mitigation is more dominant - the majority of the clusters are about mitigation. Mitigation is much more diverse and distributed. Adaptation is a much more tightly clustered topic and highly connected to other topics.
- 17. Venturini, T., Baya-laffite, N., Cointet, J., Gray, I., Zabban, V., & De Pryck, K. (2014) “Three Maps and Three Misunderstandings : A Digital Mapping of Climate Diplomacy.” Big Data and Society, 2014, 1(1). Available at: http://medialab.sciences-po.fr/publications/misunderstandings/
- 18. Venturini, T., Baya-laffite, N., Cointet, J., Gray, I., Zabban, V., & De Pryck, K. (2014) “Three Maps and Three Misunderstandings : A Digital Mapping of Climate Diplomacy.” Big Data and Society, 2014, 1(1). Available at: http://medialab.sciences-po.fr/publications/misunderstandings/
- 19. Findings" Both adaptation and mitigation are highly visible in negotiations. Adaptation financing has been central to climate negotiations from the outset. There is a noticeable shift towards adaptation during the period we examined.
- 20. Venturini, T., Baya-laffite, N., Cointet, J., Gray, I., Zabban, V., & De Pryck, K. (2014) “Three Maps and Three Misunderstandings : A Digital Mapping of Climate Diplomacy.” Big Data and Society, 2014, 1(1). Available at: http://medialab.sciences-po.fr/publications/misunderstandings/
- 21. Which countries intervene most in UN climate negotiations and how do these interventions evolve over time?
- 22. How is this usually analysed?
- 23. The New York Times (2014) “Who’s at the Climate Talks, and What Do They Seek?”. Available at: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/12/05/world/climate-graphic-players.html
- 24. What we did differently…
- 25. Graphing the number of interventions in the negotiations of the 21 most active countries based on daily summaries from the Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB)
- 26. Venturini, T., Baya-laffite, N., Cointet, J., Gray, I., Zabban, V., & De Pryck, K. (2014) “Three Maps and Three Misunderstandings : A Digital Mapping of Climate Diplomacy.” Big Data and Society, 2014, 1(1). Available at: http://medialab.sciences-po.fr/publications/misunderstandings/
- 27. Findings" Notable stability in presence and intervention of countries. Notable exceptions include Bolivia and Philippines who are becoming more prominent in recent negotiations. Most active are China (representing G77), United States and Europe. Countries tend to be more active when they host the negotiations.
- 28. Venturini, T., Baya-laffite, N., Cointet, J., Gray, I., Zabban, V., & De Pryck, K. (2014) “Three Maps and Three Misunderstandings : A Digital Mapping of Climate Diplomacy.” Big Data and Society, 2014, 1(1). Available at: http://medialab.sciences-po.fr/publications/misunderstandings/
- 29. Wired Italia (2014) “Cambiamenti del clima: 20 anni di conferenze”. March 2014. No. 60.
- 30. Wired Italia (2014) “Cambiamenti del clima: 20 anni di conferenze”. March 2014. No. 60.
- 31. Wired Italia (2014) “Cambiamenti del clima: 20 anni di conferenze”. March 2014. No. 60.
- 32. 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/
- 33. 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/
- 34. story #2:" mapping the rise of the far right in Europe with the web and social media
- 35. 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
- 36. 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
- 37. 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
- 38. What are the recruitment methods of far right groups?
- 39. Are current recruitment counter-measures proving effective?
- 40. What kinds of issues are most active amongst far right groups?
- 41. How are far right extremist groups connected to populist right and other right wing groups?
- 42. Profiles for 13 European countries.
- 43. 1. List of links per country 2. Analyse links between them 3. Study issues and actors
- 44. Findings New issues (e.g. environment, anti- globalisation and rights), principles and recruitment techniques. Counter-measures are outdated. ! Islamophobia is located primarily in north.
- 45. Greece: blood and soil and organic markets
- 46. 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
- 48. Hungary: horse and yurt recruitment festivals
- 49. 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
- 51. Taking back the yurt?
- 52. Serbia: connected through think tanks
- 53. 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 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
- 55. Counter-Jihadist groups on social media
- 56. 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
- 57. Hope Not Hate (2012) “Counter-Jihad Report”. Available at: http://www.hopenothate.org.uk/counter-jihad/
- 58. Are different Counter-Jihadist groups in Europe connected? If so how?
- 59. Digital Methods Initiative. “Counter-Jihadist Networks: Mapping the Connections Between Facebook Groups in Europe.”
- 60. Digital Methods Initiative. “Counter-Jihadist Networks: Mapping the Connections Between Facebook Groups in Europe.”
- 61. Findings Facebook is an important medium for extremist groups. ! Three main clusters based on geographical proximity. ! European Counter-Jihadist groups are networked and transnational.
- 62. Digital Methods Initiative. “Counter-Jihadist Networks: Mapping the Connections Between Facebook Groups in Europe.”
- 63. Who are the new leaders?
- 65. Findings" ! Offline leaders are active on Facebook. ! There are also new emerging online leaders. ! New technique for identifying online leaders.
- 66. story #3:" who’s talking about" “care drain”
- 67. “care drain”
- 68. Mills et al (2008). “Should active recruitment of health workers from " sub-Saharan Africa be viewed as a crime?”. Lancet 2008; 371: 685–88.
- 69. The Guardian (2011). “Assessing the cause and effect of health worker migration”.! Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/global-health-workers/health-workers-move-from-area-of-origin
- 70. – Sue George, “Assessing the cause and effect of health worker migration”, The Guardian, 18th January 2011. “Health worker migration is a big issue – in 2005, it was widely reported that there were more Malawian doctors in Manchester than Malawi. Now, it seems, there are more Ethiopian doctors in Chicago than in Ethiopia.”
- 71. – Sue George, “Assessing the cause and effect of health worker migration”, The Guardian, 18th January 2011. “[a 2010 global code of practice] sets out guiding principles and voluntary international standards for recruitment of health workers, to increase the consistency of national policies and discourage unethical practices”
- 72. Which actors in the UK health sector are talking about the migration of health workers?
- 73. Rogers, R., Sanchez Querubin, N. & Kril, A. (2015) Ageing Places: A Digital Issue Mapping. Amsterdam: University of Amsterdam Press.
- 74. Findings for UK" Notable difference between sectors. Most vocal are government and academia. Less discussion amongst healthcare NGOs. Next to no discussion in private sector.
- 75. Who is recruiting Polish health workers?
- 76. Findings for Poland" ! Demand for Polish care workers greater outside country than within. ! Based on recruitment postings, Poland looks to be susceptible to care drain.
- 77. Rogers, R., Sanchez Querubin, N. & Kril, A. (2015) Ageing Places: A Digital Issue Mapping. Amsterdam: University of Amsterdam Press.
- 78. story #4:" which US embassies acknowledged" cablegate?
- 79. The Guardian (2010) “US embassy cables leak sparks global diplomatic crisis”. Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/nov/28/us-embassy-cable-leak-diplomacy-crisis
- 80. Cables from 274 embassies, consulates and diplomatic missions.
- 82. Do the embassies mentioned in the cables acknowledge the issue on their official websites?
- 83. Findings Only 5 embassies explicitly mentioned the leaks on their websites.
- 84. Digital Methods Initiative (2011) “The Response of the Source”. Available at: https://wiki.digitalmethods.net/Dmi/ResponsesoftheSources
- 85. story #5:" mapping the influence of climate skeptics
- 86. BBC News (2007) “BBC switches off climate special”. Available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6979596.stm
- 87. – Richard Rogers, Digital Methods (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2013), pp.7-8 “The skeptics were increasingly at the top of the news. […] Are the skeptics at the top of the web too?”
- 88. Who talks about climate skeptics?
- 89. Climate Skeptics" ! S. Fred Singer Robert Balling Sallie Baliunas Patrick Michaels Richard Lindzen Steven Milloy Timothy Ball Paul Driessen Willie Soon Sherwood B. Idso Frederick Seitz
- 90. Climate Skeptic Organisations" ! American Enterprise Institute American Legislative Exchange Council Center for Science and Public Policy Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow Competitive Enterprise Institute Frontiers of Freedom Marshall Institute Heartland Institute Tech Central Station
- 93. Findings Influence of climate skeptics in media is disproportionate given their relatively marginal influence in key spaces.
- 94. Digital Methods Initiative (2007) “Climate Change Skeptics”. Available at: https://wiki.digitalmethods.net/Dmi/ClimateChangeSkeptics
- 95. 5 innovations
- 96. innovation #1:" ! social media and web as data about society
- 97. “The social is visible only by the traces it leaves..” – Bruno Latour, Reassembling the Social: An Introduction to Actor-Network Theory. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005), p. 8
- 98. ““The interest of electronic media lies in the fact that every interaction that passes through them leaves traces..” – Bruno Latour & Tommaso Venturini, “The Social Fabric: Digital Traces and Quali-quantitative Methods”, p. 6
- 99. Web and social media data are digital traces of the social.
- 100. Not just content, but metadata, relationships and interactions.
- 101. Digital methods are “methods of the medium” designed to repurpose digital objects such as tags, likes, links and hashtags to study issues.
- 102. Some tools that organise web and social media for research…
- 103. “Netvizz is a tool that extracts data from different sections of the Facebook platform (personal profile, groups, pages) for research purposes.”
- 104. 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.
- 106. “The Twitter Capture and Analysis Toolset (DMI-TCAT) captures tweets and allows for multiple analyses (hashtags, mentions, users, search, ...).”
- 107. 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.
- 110. innovation #2:" ! search engines as research machines
- 111. – R. Rogers, F. Jansen, Stevenson, M. & Weltevrede, E. (2009) “Mapping Democracy”. Global Information Society Watch 2009. “We look at Google results and see society instead of Google.”
- 112. For example: ! What kinds of rights are most prominently recognised or referred to in different countries?
- 113. Query the term “rights” in the local languages in the local Google versions. ! List top ten distinctive rights types in the order that Google provided them.
- 114. Google.se with query “rattigheter” (13.07.09) Google.fi with query “oikeudet” (13.07.09) Google.ee with query “oigused” (15.07.09) Google.lv with query “tiesibas” (16.07.09) Google.co.uk with query “rights” (13.07.09) Google.nl with query “rechten” (13.07.09) Google.be with query “rechten van” (15.07.09) Google.be with query “droits” (14.07.09) Google.lu with query “rechte” (15.07.09) Google.de with query “rechte” (15.07.09) Google.at with query “rechte” (15.07.09) Google.ch with query “rechte” (15.07.09) Google.fr with query “droits” (14.07.09) Google.pt with query “direitos” (14.07.09) Google.es with query “derechos” (13.07.09) Google.it with query “diritto al” OR “diritto all” OR “diritto alla” (13.07.09) Google.ro with query “drepturile” (13.07.09) Google.mo with query “drepturile” (13.07.09) Google.ru with query “prava” (13.07.09) Google.com.tr with query “haklari” (17.07.09) GGoogle.com.ph with query “karapatang” (16.07.09) Google.ci with query “droits” (17.07.09) Google.com.au with query “rights” (14.07.09) Google.ca with query “rights” (15.07.09) Google.ca with query “droits” (15.07.09) Google.com with query “rights” (14.07.09) Google.com with query “derechos” (15.07.09) Google.com.mx with query “derechos” (15.07.09) Google.com.br with query “direitos” (15.07.09) Google.ar with query “derechos” (15.07.09) Google.pe with query “derechos” (15.07.09)
- 115. R. Rogers, F. Jansen, Stevenson, M. & Weltevrede, E. (2009) “Mapping Democracy”. Global Information Society Watch. Available at: http://www.giswatch.org/fr/node/158
- 116. innovation #3:" ! co-occurrence analysis to identify themes
- 117. Venturini, T., Baya-laffite, N., Cointet, J., Gray, I., Zabban, V., & De Pryck, K. (2014) “Three Maps and Three Misunderstandings : A Digital Mapping of Climate Diplomacy.” Big Data and Society, 2014, 1(1). Available at: http://medialab.sciences-po.fr/publications/misunderstandings/
- 118. innovation #4:" ! network analysis to identify actors
- 119. – Bernhard Rieder. “Studying Facebook via data extraction: the Netvizz application.” “The main tenet of [social network analysis] is to envision groups and other social units as networks, that is, as connected ensembles that emerge from tangible and direct connections (friendships, work relationships, joint leisure, direct interactions, etc.) rather than as social categories.”
- 121. “Gephi is an interactive visualization and exploration platform for all kinds of networks and complex systems, dynamic and hierarchical graphs.”
- 123. innovation #5:" ! hyperlink analysis to explore "politics of association"
- 124. 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 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
- 125. The Issue Crawler
- 126. “A software tool that locates and visualizes networks on the web”
- 133. Data Journalism Handbook: http://datajournalismhandbook.org/
- 136. opportunity #1:" ! using digital methods to identify sources
- 137. opportunity #2:" ! using social media and web as sources
- 138. opportunity #3:" ! new forms of analysis and verification
- 140. opportunity #5:" ! new ways to present complex issues
- 141. Wired Italia (2014) “Cambiamenti del clima: 20 anni di conferenze”. March 2014. No. 60.
- 142. Digital Methods Initiative. “Counter-Jihadist Networks: Mapping the Connections Between Facebook Groups in Europe.”
- 143. Reuters (2013) “Connected China”. Available at: http://china.fathom.info/
- 144. – Bruno Latour. “A Cautious Prometheus? A Few Steps Toward a Philosophy of Design”. Talks for the Design History Society Falmouth, Cornwall, 3rd September 2008 “So here is the question I wish to raise to designers: where are the visualization tools that allow the contradictory and controversial nature of matters of concern to be represented?”
- 145. In conclusion…
- 146. 2 reflections
- 147. reflection #1:" ! from digging to tracing?
- 148. reflection #2:" ! mapping for what and for whom?
- 152. From physical to social maps?
- 153. Issue mapping for journalism?
- 154. To recap…
- 155. 1. story #1: climate negotiations 2. story #2: rise of the far right 3. story #3: “care drain” 4. story #4: cablegate 5. story #5: climate skeptics 6. innovation #1: social media and web as data 7. innovation #2: search as research 8. innovation #3: co-occurrence analysis 9. innovation #4: network analysis 10. innovation #5: hyperlink analysis 11. opportunity #1: identifying sources 12. opportunity #2: social media and web as sources 13. opportunity #3: analysis and verification 14. opportunity #4: source partisanship 15. opportunity #5: presentation 16. reflection #1: from digging to tracing? 17. reflection #2: mapping for what?
- 156. Thank You! Liliana Bounegru | lilianabounegru.org | @bb_liliana Jonathan Gray | jonathangray.org | @jwyg Sciences Po médialab http://www.medialab.sciences-po.fr/ ! Sciences Po médialab - Tools http://tools.medialab.sciences-po.fr/ Digital Methods Initiative https://digitalmethods.net Digital Methods Initiative - Tools https://tools.digitalmethods.net