new social media, new social science presentation to esrc roundtable jan2015
TRANSCRIPT
Blurring the boundaries: New Social Media, New Social Science?Kandy Woodfield, Director of Learning & Enterprise, NatCen Social ResearchNewton Roundtable: Social media data & research 9th January 2015, London
#NSMNSS
Blurring the boundaries? Innovation
CollaborationInspiration
Fresh thinking▪Network of methodological innovation▪Funded by ESRC (via NCRM) initially▪Now in its third year, self-funded,
peer led, network leads @▪Affiliate organisations from
academia, government and voluntary sector
Aims of the networkInnovation
CollaborationInspiration
Fresh thinking▪On & off line community of practice▪Forge links between academics, practitioners, platforms
& across disciplines▪Catalyse debate▪Address challenges social media present for social
science research▪Share approaches, tools & experiences of using social
media Identify good practice▪Co-created content & guidance to be shared with the
wider community
How it works? InnovationCollaboration
InspirationFresh thinkingNetwork activities across a range
of platforms:
▪ Twitter: @NSMNSS, #NSMNSS▪ Blog: http://nsmnss.blogspot.co.uk/▪ You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/user/NSMNSS
▪Conferences▪Knowledge exchange events▪Methodological projects▪Publishing
76% employed
34% students
75% HE sector25% other
65% in UK35% worldwide
58% female42% male 700+
NSMNSS members
20 disciplinary fields
Over 17, 178 minutes of
video watched
3 0nline seminars 2 conferences
7 knowledge exchange seminars
14 themed twitter chats
137 blog posts
So far…
3,945 video
views on You Tube
140,143 blog page views
Available from Amazon Kindle
▪Innovative digital publication▪Crowd-sourced▪Book of fifty-three blogs▪New and existing
bloggers▪Exploring the challenges
and opportunities of social media research▪Looks at ethics, tools,
methods, the researcher role, skills etc…
What have we learnt? ▪ Social media being used in most soc sci
disciplines ▪ Research innovation & ground breaking use of
technologies▪Great examples of multi-disciplinary research
▪ Silos & divides do still exist and are counter-productive to moving social media methodology(ies) forward
▪ No single methodology for social media research – many approaches, many tools, different epistemological stances
What have we learnt? IIPersisting uncertainty about whether we are ‘getting it right’▪Ethical dilemmas - lack of consistent,
relevant guidance – NSMNSS reports on this▪What are the political, ethical, legal
issues?▪ Do we understand the digital world well
enough to make these choices?▪ Lack of research with users of social media
platforms or engagement with platform providers
What have we learnt? III
‘Getting it right’ is also about methodological quality:▪What is a robust sample from Twitter or
Facebook?▪Need to develop methodological courage and
confidence to defend the methodScepticism and cynicism persist▪Digital literacy & methodological skills gaps▪Lack of experience and understanding in
institutions, ethics boards and funders
Thank youIf you want further information or would like to contact the network:[email protected]://nsmnss.blogspot.co.uk/ [email protected]@nsmnss on Twitter
Useful reading:Woodfield. K Ed. (2014) Social Media in Social Research – blogs on blurring the boundaries (London: NatCen) E-bookFry. A et al (2013) Research using social media: user views (London: NatCen) Salmons, Janet (2013) New social media, new social science & new ethical issues (London: Sage/Natcen) PDF: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1-gmLw9jo6fLTQ5X0oyeE1aRjQ/edit