Digital Methods for Social Science (eBook)

Jonathon Adams, English Language Institute, Ministry of Education, Singapore Stuart Agnew, Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Arts Business and Applied Social Science, University Campus Suffolk (UCS), UK Julie Barnett, Professor of Health Psychology, University of Bath, UK Ibrar Bhatt, Senior Research Associate, Department of Educational Research, Lancaster University, UK Emma Bond, Associate Professor, University Campus Suffolk, and Director of iSEED (The Institute for Social, Educational and Enterprise Development, UK Phillip Brooker, Research Associate, University of Bath, UK Axel Bruns, Australian Research Council Future Fellow, and Professor, Creative Industries Faculty, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia Jean Burgess, Associate Professor of Digital Media, and Director of the Digital Media Research Centre (DMRC), Queensland University of Technology, Australia Timothy Cribbin, Lecturer, Department of Computer Science, Brunel University London, UK Roberto de Roock, Center for Games and Impact, Arizona State University, USA Adolfo Estalella, Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Manchester, UK Jorge Fábrega is Assistant Professor, Adolfo Ibañez University, Chile Claire Hewson, Lecturer in Psychology, The Open University, UK Christine Hine, Reader in Sociology, Department of Sociology, University of Surrey, UK Jo Hope, University of Surrey, UK Emma Hutchinson, University of Warwick, UK Jeremy Knox, Lecturer in Digital Education, University of Edinburgh, UK Noortje Marres, Senior Lecturer in Sociology at Goldsmiths, University of London, UK Yvette Morey, Research Fellow, Centre for the Study of Behaviour Change and Influence, University of the West of England, Bristol, UK Steven Roberts, Senior Lecturer in Sociology, Monash University, USA Javier Sajuria, Research Associate, School of Government in Public Policy, University of Strathclyde, UK Sanjay Sharma, Senior Lecturer, Department of Social Sciences, Media and Communications, Brunel University London, UK Helene Snee, Lecturer in Sociology, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK Eve Stirling, Senior Lecturer in Design, Sheffield Institute of Art, Sheffield Hallam University, UK Victoria Tedder, University of Kent, UK Hayley Watson, Senior Research Analyst, Trilateral Research & Consulting, London, UK

Cover 0
Contents 6
List of Figures and Tables 8
Foreword by Noortje Marres 9
Acknowledgements 11
Notes on Contributors 12
1 Digital Methods as Mainstream Methodology: An Introduction 20
Part I: Big Data, Thick Data: Social Media Analysis 31
Introduction to Part I 31
2 Methodological Innovation in Precarious Spaces: The Case of Twitter 35
3 Have We Even Solved the First ‘Big Data Challenge?’ Practical Issues Concerning Data Collection and Visual Representation for Social Media Analytics 52
4 ‘I’m Always on Facebook!’: Exploring Facebook as a Mainstream Research Tool and Ethnographic Site 69
Part II: Combining and Comparing Methods 85
Introduction to Part II 85
5 Mixing Modes to Widen Research Participation 89
6 Do We Need Polls? Why Twitter Will Not Replace Opinion Surveys, but Can Complement Them 105
7 Video Analysis in Digital Literacy Studies: Exploring Innovative Methods 123
Part III: Developing Innovations in Digital Methods 140
Introduction to Part III 140
8 Prototyping Social Sciences: Emplacing Digital Methods 144
9 Digital Methods and Perpetual Reinvention? Asynchronous Interviewing and Photo Elicitation 160
10 Digital Stories and Handmade Skills: Explorations in How Digital Methods Can Be Used to Study Transmissions of Skill 174
Part IV: Digital Research: Challengesand Contentions 188
Introduction to Part IV 188
11 What’s the Matter with MOOCs? Socio-material Methodologies for Educational Research 192
12 Towards an Innovative Inclusion: Using Digital Methods with Young People 207
13 Ethics Issues in Digital Methods Research 223
14 Digital Methods as Mainstream Methodology: Conclusions 239
Index 248