Doing Digital Methods

by Richard Rogers

Overview

How do you use social media platforms, search engines, and other forms of digital media to explore the key issues of our time? With this second edition, learn how to use the latest advancements in digital methods to answer your pressing research questions.

The new edition includes:

• A new chapter on critical social media research,
• Tips for analysing content on Tik Tok, Instagram, Twitter and more,
• Exploration of Google critique and algorithmic auditing,
• Examination of You Tube's content removal politics and Facebook's 'fake news' problem.

Whether you are new to digital research or are exploring a new platform, this book equips you with tools to navigate the evolving digital landscape and conduct rigorous studies in the digital age.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781529764338
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
Publication date:	04/09/2024
Edition description:	Second Edition
Pages:	344
Product dimensions:	7.44(w) x 9.68(h) x (d)

About the Author

Richard Rogers is Professor of New Media & Digital Culture, Media Studies, University of Amsterdam. He is Director of the Digital Methods Initiative, Amsterdam, known for the development of software tools for the study of online data. He is author of Information Politics on the Web and Digital Methods (both MIT Press) and editor of The Politics of Social Media Manipulation (with Sabine Niederer) and The Propagation of Misinformation in Social Media: A Cross-platform Analysis (both Amsterdam University Press).

Table of Contents

Preface: Before beginning digital methods
PART 1 BEGINNING DIGITAL METHODS
Chapter 1 Positioning digital methods
Chapter 2 Starting with query design
PART 2 DOING DIGITAL METHODS
Chapter 3 Issuecrawling: Mapping networks on the web
Chapter 4 URL fetching: Internet censorship research
Chapter 5 Website history: Screencast documentaries with the Internet Archive
Chapter 6 Search as research: Repurposing Google
Chapter 7 Cultural points of view: Comparing Wikipedia language versions
Chapter 8 Platform studies: Twitter as story-telling machine
Chapter 9 Memes or virals: Identifying engaging content on Facebook
Chapter 10 Cross-platform analysis: Co-linked, inter-liked and cross-hashtagged content
Chapter 11 Tracker analysis: Detection techniques for data journalism research
Chapter 12: Youtube teardown
Chapter 13 Summarizing digital methods

Editorial Reviews

How does one study rather than chase after a medium that is constantly evolving? Doing Digital Methods is a must read, indispensable, and invaluable guide for those researching the socio-cultural internet. Inspired and forward thinking.

Zizi Papacharissi

Doing Digital Methods is a comprehensive guide to the practical techniques of digital methods with an emphasis on the critical evaluation of the growing use of online social data for research. Updated with chapters on Instagram and Tik Tok, Rogers provides an essential book for those seeking to navigate the intricacies of digital research methods.

Michael Zimmer

Doing Digital Methods is a foundational guide for understanding how the digital has become a pivotal landscape for empirical exploration. From Google Search results to videos on Tik Tok’s For You Page, Rogers develops the reader’s ability to recognize digital artifacts and data as meaningful outputs for humanities and social science research.

Stefanie Duguay

Digital Methods enabled a wave of research in the cultural dynamics of contemporary network society. With this new edition, Richard Rogers brings Digital Methods to the new emerging platforms that are reshaping our digital lives. With multiple platform-specific cases and examples, ‘Doing Digital Methods’ remains a fundamental resource for both practitioners and students.

Luca Rossi

This is an excellent and long overdue book on current research practice involving digital media. The new chapter on 'preparing for critical social research' is a brilliant addition to further refine researcher expertise.

Atuyla Saxena

An essential read for students and scholars keen to learn the techniques of digital methods, while retaining strong emphasis on methodological reflection, critical assessment of ontological and epistemological implications of tools and data, the book is comprehensive and exemplary in its approach and guidance on doing digital methods research.

European Journal of Communication - Stine Lomborg