Provenance of social media: survey data, 2016

Edwards, Peter and Corsar, David and Markovic, Milan (2020). Provenance of social media: survey data, 2016. [Data Collection]. Colchester, Essex: UK Data Archive. 10.5255/UKDA-SN-852507

There is now a broad consensus that new forms of social data emerging from people’s day-to-day activities on the web have the potential to transform the social sciences. However, there is also agreement that current analytical techniques fall short of the methodological standards required for academic research and policymaking and that conclusions drawn from social media data have much greater utility when combined with results drawn from other datasets (including various public sector resources made available through open data initiatives).

In this proposal we outline the case for further investigations into the challenges surrounding social media data and the social sciences. Aspects of the work will involve analysis of social media data in a number of contexts, including:

-transport disruption around the 2014 Commonwealth Games (Glasgow)
- news stories about Scottish independence and UK-EU relations
- island communities in the Western Isles.

Guided by insights from these case studies we will:

- develop a suite of software tools to support various aspects of data analysis and curation;

- provide guidance on ethical considerations surrounding analysis of social media data;

- deliver training workshops for social science researchers;

- engage with the public on this important topic through a series of festivals (food, music, science).

Data description (abstract)

Survey instrument and anonymised responses collected as part of Sub-Project B4 “Provenance of Social Media” of the larger Social Media - Developing Understanding, Infrastructure & Engagement (Social Media Enhancement) award (ES/M001628/1). The survey aimed to further our understanding of the current practices and attitudes towards the provenance of data collected from social media platforms and its analysis by researchers in the social sciences. This includes all forms of social media, such as Twitter, Facebook, Wikipedia, Quora, blogs, discussion forums, etc. The survey was conducted as an online-survey using Google Forms. Findings from this survey influenced the work of the sub-project, and the development of tools to support researchers who wish to increase the transparency of their research using social media data.

Dataset of collected survey responses, and pdf versions of the Google Forms online survey instrument. Each PDF file denotes one possible survey path that depended on the response of a participant to the question “What level of experience do you have using data from a social media platforms as part of your research?” The three paths are:

(1) SurveyInstrument-Path-1.pdf - is used if the participant selected the option "I have used/am currently using social media data as part of my research."

(2) SurveyInstrument-Path-2.pdf - is used if the participant selected the option "I am aware of others using social media data as part of their research and may consider using it within mine."

(3) SurveyInstrument-Path-3.pdf - is used if the participant selected the option "Neither of the above."

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