Showing papers in "Social Science Computer Review in 2017"
TL;DR: In this article, a generic questionnaire, the Social Media Addiction Questionnaire SMAQ, was used stemming from the Facebook Intrusion Questionnaire, and data analyses included Pearson correlations between the variables, regression analysis, and structural equation modeling.
Abstract: The use of social media has grown exponentially to the extent of engaging close to one third of the world's population as of January 2016. Actually, social media statistics have been reporting an average annual increase of 10% in total number of users. These extremely impressive statistics have been triggering researchers' interest in investigating this phenomenon and its impact on every aspect of users' lives. Our study is an attempt to contribute to the knowledge that is building up in relation to this phenomenon by examining the relationships between the addictive use of social media, self-esteem, and satisfaction with life. To achieve this purpose, a generic questionnaire, the Social Media Addiction Questionnaire SMAQ, was used stemming from the Facebook Intrusion Questionnaire. Respondents completed an online survey questionnaire which collected demographic information and responses to SMAQ, Rosenberg's Self-Esteem Scale, and the Satisfaction with Life Scale. In addition to assessing SMAQ's psychometric properties, data analyses included Pearson correlations between the variables, regression analysis, and structural equation modeling. Results showed that a one-factor model of SMAQ had good psychometric properties and had high internal consistency. As for relations, addictive use of social media had a negative association with self-esteem, and the latter had a positive association with satisfaction with life. Furthermore, path analysis showed that self-esteem mediated the effect of social media addiction on satisfaction with life.
262 citations
TL;DR: The unrepresentative characteristics of Twitter users suggest that Twitter data are not suitable for research where representativeness is important, such as forecasting elections or gaining insight into attitudes, sentiments, or activities of large populations.
Abstract: Hundreds of papers have been published using Twitter data, but few previous papers report the digital divide among Twitter users. British Twitter users are younger, wealthier, and better educated t...
153 citations
TL;DR: Using multilevel models, a secondary analysis of student surveys finds that much of the time difference can be accounted for by the additional scrolling required on mobile devices, especially for grid questions.
Abstract: Surveys completed on mobile web devices (smartphones) have been found to take longer than surveys completed on a PC. This has been found both in surveys where respondents can choose which device th...
95 citations
TL;DR: The article discusses current online recruitment sources and their limitations, provides an overview of Reddit, validates its use for research purposes, examines participation data from previous studies which recruited through Reddit, and suggests guidelines that can improve recruitment and retention rates for scientists looking to use Reddit for their research.
Abstract: Recruiting participants is a necessary step in many studies. With the advent of online research techniques, scientists are looking for new places where participants can be recruited online, in orde...
92 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined the relationship between metrics documenting politics-related Twitter activity with election results and trends in opinion polls and found that indicators based on Twitter mentions of political parties differed strongly from parties' results in elections or opinion polls.
Abstract: In this article, we examine the relationship between metrics documenting politics-related Twitter activity with election results and trends in opinion polls. Various studies have proposed the possibility of inferring public opinion based on digital trace data collected on Twitter and even the possibility to predict election results based on aggregates of mentions of political actors. Yet, a systematic attempt at a validation of Twitter as an indicator for political support is lacking. In this article, building on social science methodology, we test the validity of the relationship between various Twitter-based metrics of public attention toward politics with election results and opinion polls. All indicators tested in this article suggest caution in the attempt to infer public opinion or predict election results based on Twitter messages. In all tested metrics, indicators based on Twitter mentions of political parties differed strongly from parties’ results in elections or opinion polls. This leads us to question the power of Twitter to infer levels of political support of political actors. Instead, Twitter appears to promise insights into temporal dynamics of public attention toward politics.
87 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a novel method that combines a big data measurement of the content of individuals' Facebook FB news feeds with traditional survey measures to explore the antecedents and effects of exposure to news and politics content on the site is introduced.
Abstract: This article introduces a novel method that combines a źbig dataź measurement of the content of individuals' Facebook FB news feeds with traditional survey measures to explore the antecedents and effects of exposure to news and politics content on the site. Drawing on recent theoretical and methodological advances, we demonstrate how such a hybrid approach can be used to a untangle distinct channels of public affairs content within respondents' FB news feeds, b explore why respondents vary in the extent to which they encounter public affairs content on the site, and c examine whether the amount and type of public affairs content flows in one's FB is associated with political knowledge and participation above and beyond self-report measures of news media use.
74 citations
TL;DR: The article analyzes the nature of communication flows during social conflicts via the digital platform Twitter and identifies the strategic importance of a group of amplifying intermediaries in local positions of the networks, who coexist with specialized voices and professional media outlets at the center of the global network.
Abstract: The article analyzes the nature of communication flows during social conflicts via the digital platform Twitter. We gathered over 150,000 tweets from citizen protests for nine environmental social ...
73 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigated the impact of including offline households in the sample on the representativeness of the panel and found that the exclusion of offline households produces significant coverage biases in online panel surveys.
Abstract: The past decade has seen a rise in the use of online panels for conducting survey research. However, the popularity of online panels, largely driven by relatively low implementation costs and high rates of Internet penetration, has been met with criticisms regarding their ability to accurately represent their intended target populations. This criticism largely stems from the fact that (1) non-Internet (or offline) households, despite their relatively small size, constitute a highly selective group unaccounted for in Internet panels, and (2) the preeminent use of nonprobability-based recruitment methods likely contributes a self-selection bias that further compromises the representativeness of online panels. In response to these criticisms, some online panel studies have taken steps to recruit probability-based samples of individuals and providing them with the means to participate online. Using data from one such study, the German Internet Panel, this article investigates the impact of including offline households in the sample on the representativeness of the panel. Consistent with studies in other countries, we find that the exclusion of offline households produces significant coverage biases in online panel surveys, and the inclusion of these households in the sample improves the representativeness of the survey despite their lower propensity to respond.
72 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors used Facebook advertisements to sample Polish migrants in Austria, Ireland, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom, with the ultimate goal to supplement other approaches, such as random-route sampling or random-digit-dialing.
Abstract: Sampling of migrants in cross-national survey research is challenging. Established techniques such as random-route sampling or random-digit-dialing are associated with high monetary costs, in particular when small migrant groups are targeted. The use of onomastic (name based) telephone sampling is a relatively cost-efficient alternative, but it relies on a number of conditions (e.g., existence of telephone directories in the respective countries and inclusion of the target population). As the use of social networking sites (SNSs) has spread around the globe in the last 20 years, the present paper investigates whether a specific SNS, Facebook, can be used to sample migrants, with the ultimate goal to supplement other approaches. This article is based on data collected as part of a survey that used Facebook advertisements to sample Polish migrants in Austria, Ireland, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. The study succeeded in sampling a total of 1,103 individuals who completed the relatively extensive ques...
63 citations
TL;DR: It is shown that the data from the web survey and the meter lead to very different results about the online behavior of the same sample of respondents, showing the need to combine several sources of data collection in the future.
Abstract: Surveys have been used as main tool of data collection in many areas of research and for many years. However, the environment is changing increasingly quickly, creating new challenges and opportuni...
56 citations
TL;DR: A systematic review of empirical evidence on gamified surveys from published and unpublished studies is provided in this article, which informs survey researchers and practitioners of the current state of research on survey gamification and identifies potential areas for future research.
Abstract: The term źgamificationź is used for a wide variety of techniques aimed to increase respondent engagement while filling out web surveys. Suggested approaches range from rephrasing questions to sound more game-like to embedding the entire survey into a game where respondent avatars adventure through a fantasy land while answering survey questions. So far, only a few experimental studies regarding the influence of gamification on survey responding have been published in peer-reviewed journals. This article systematically reviews the current research literature on gamification in surveys by first answering the question as to what gamification entails in the context of web surveys by identifying relevant gamification elements. Next, the article discusses how these elements could influence survey data quality using the Total Survey Error framework. Finally, a systematic review of empirical evidence on gamified surveys from published and unpublished studies is provided. While most studies found in our literature review reported a positive effect of using game elements, such as challenges, story/narrative, rewards, goals/objectives, and badges, on psychological outcomes among survey respondents e.g., fun, interest, satisfaction, the influence of these elements on behavioral outcomes e.g., completion and break-offs, item omission, satisficing, responses and, therefore, survey quality is more unclear. This article informs survey researchers and practitioners of the current state of research on survey gamification and identifies potential areas for future research.
TL;DR: The authors explored gender disparities in various Facebook liking practices concerning expressions of civic engagement among 21,706,806 Facebook users in 10 countries across Asia, Africa, the Americas, and Europe.
Abstract: Facebook is expected to facilitate more equal participation in civic engagement across genders and countries. With the use of a big data tool Wisdom, we explored gender disparities in various Facebook liking practices concerning expressions of civic engagement among 21,706,806 Facebook users in 10 countries across Asia, Africa, the Americas, and Europe. We observed distinct patterns with regard to civic and political expressions on Facebook, with males drawn more toward politically and information-oriented liking practices when compared to females. Moreover, females aged 13-28 years in Europe and the Americas are more likely than males to support humanitarian aid and environmental issues on Facebook. This latter finding was not evident in Asia and Africa, where males are more active in liking all forms of civic expressions on Facebook. In conclusion, this study shows that the gender differences in civic engagement that exist offline to a large degree are replicated and reinforced on Facebook.
TL;DR: Wang et al. as mentioned in this paper examined the effect of swearing in online citizen-to-citizen news commenting and found that swearing generally has a positive effect on increasing user attention to comments as well as gaining other users' approvals.
Abstract: Swearing, the use of taboo languages tagged with a high level of emotional arousal, has become commonplace in contemporary political culture. The current study attempts to understand the ways in which swearing influences citizen-to-citizen news commenting online. Based on a large corpus of the 2-month user comments from 26 news websites in South Korea, the study examines swearing effects as well as its interplay with anonymity on garnering public attention and shaping other users' perceptions of the comments. Findings suggest that swearing generally has a positive effect on increasing user attention to comments as well as gaining other users' approvals. Comparisons between political and nonpolitical topics further suggest that swearing effect on gaining public attention is particularly prominent for political discussions. In contrast, the magnitude of change toward positive valence in public perception to comments is much greater for nonpolitical topics than for politics. From the findings, we conclude that an acceptable degree of swearing norms in online discussions vary across news topical arenas. The results also lead to discussions about the possibility of like-minded exposure to political comments as a default condition for online discussions. Finally, the study highlights the role of high-arousal emotions in shaping discursive participation in contemporary networked sociodigital environment.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explored the degree to which socioeconomic status SES, social capital potential, and in-district partisan polarization were associated with incivility on Twitter during the 2012 U.S. presidential election.
Abstract: Using 414,322 tweets drawn from 143,404 individual Twitter users located in all 435 U.S. congressional districts, this study employed big data and automated content analysis techniques to explore the degree to which socioeconomic status SES, social capital potential the degree to which a congressional district has the potential for interconnected citizen networks, and in-district partisan polarization were associated with incivility on Twitter during the 2012 presidential election. Broadly speaking, and with some exceptions, the results indicated that election oriented incivility on Twitter was highest in districts that had low SES indicators, low levels of social capital potential, and low levels of partisan polarity. In its sum, this study shows how large social data sets i.e., the Census can be combined with big data to explain social phenomena.
TL;DR: This paper used an online survey (N = 963) of youth and young adults recruited from a demographically balanced sample of A... to identify who is likely to be a target of online hate and extremism.
Abstract: Who is likely to be a target of online hate and extremism? To answer this question, we use an online survey (N = 963) of youth and young adults recruited from a demographically balanced sample of A...
TL;DR: The growing participation in social networking sites is altering the nature of social relations and changing the change in political and public dialogue as mentioned in this paper, and the authors of this article contribute to the current deb...
Abstract: The growing participation in social networking sites is altering the nature of social relations and changing the nature of political and public dialogue. This article contributes to the current deb...
TL;DR: The Social Science Computer Review as mentioned in this paper provides a sample of the latest strategies employing large data sets in social media and political communication research, and summarizes pressing issues when employing big data for political communication.
Abstract: This special issue of the Social Science Computer Review provides a sample of the latest strategies employing large data sets in social media and political communication research. The proliferation of information communication technologies, social media, and the Internet, alongside the ubiquity of high-performance computing and storage technologies, has ushered in the era of computational social science. However, in no way does the use of źbig dataź represent a standardized area of inquiry in any field. This article briefly summarizes pressing issues when employing big data for political communication research. Major challenges remain to ensure the validity and generalizability of findings. Strong theoretical arguments are still a central part of conducting meaningful research. In addition, ethical practices concerning how data are collected remain an area of open discussion. The article surveys studies that offer unique and creative ways to combine methods and introduce new tools while at the same time address some solutions to ethical questions.
TL;DR: This work uses data from a web survey fielded in 2013 to compare data quality indicators in survey data from the two recruitment platforms (Google and Facebook advertisements) and explores the effect of demographics, device and technology usage, incentives, and recruitment platform on data quality and response strategy.
Abstract: With proliferation of web surveys, the relative affordability of recruitment, and increasing nonresponse in other survey modes, nonprobability methods are increasingly being considered by researche...
TL;DR: Respondents who completed the survey on a PC were more likely to be male, to have a lower educational level, and to have more experience with Web surveys than mobile Web respondents, regardless of whether they used the iPhone voluntarily or were asked to switch to iPhone.
Abstract: Due to a rising mobile device penetration, Web surveys are increasingly accessed and completed on smartphones or tablets instead of desktop computers or laptops. Mobile Web surveys are also gaining popularity as an alternative self-administered data collection mode among survey researchers. We conducted a methodological experiment among iPhone owners and compared the participation and response behavior of three groups of respondents: iPhone owners who started and completed our survey on a desktop or laptop PC, iPhone owners who self-selected to complete the survey on an iPhone, and iPhone owners who started on a PC but were requested to switch to iPhone. We found that respondents who completed the survey on a PC were more likely to be male, to have a lower educational level, and to have more experience with Web surveys than mobile Web respondents, regardless of whether they used the iPhone voluntarily or were asked to switch from a PC to an iPhone. Overall, iPhone respondents had more missing data and took longer to complete the survey than respondents who answered the questions on a PC, but they also showed less straightlining behavior. There are only minimal device differences on survey answers obtained from PCs and iPhones.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors analyzed the use of Twitter between Nov. 9 and 14, 2014 for a straw poll about the independence of Catalonia from Spain, which was conducted by the Spanish government.
Abstract: In November 9, 2014, the Catalan government called Catalan people to participate in a straw poll about the independence of Catalonia from Spain. This article analyzes the use of Twitter between Nov...
TL;DR: This article explored how UK young adults' exposure to social networking sites (SNSs) and attention to specific SNS content relate to their political practices and found that regular use of varying SNSs and an attention to certain political content have a positive weak association with off-line formal and activist participation and a considerably stronger association with online “slacktivism.
Abstract: This study explores how UK young adults’ exposure to social networking sites (SNSs) and attention to specific SNS content relate to their political practices. Data were collected from a diverse group of undergraduates during the 2015 General Election and Labour leadership campaign via a web survey designed with novel instruments (e.g., simulated Facebook and Twitter newsfeeds). Results indicate that regular use of varying SNSs and attention to certain political content—for example, newsfeeds about student-fee activism—have a positive weak association with off-line formal and activist participation and a considerably stronger association with online “slacktivism.” Moreover, exposure to SNSs was found similarly high across respondents. However, those with typical demographic and psychographic markers of participation (e.g., upper socioeconomic status, early political socialization) showed significantly greater levels of engagement with political content and off-line and online participation. Together, these...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explored the validity of individual policy positions derived from the social network structure of the microblogging platform Twitter and found that SNS data provided valid policy position estimates at the aggregate party level.
Abstract: Social network site SNS data provide scholars with a plethora of new opportunities for studying public opinion and forecasting electoral outcomes. While these are certainly among the most promising big data applications in political science research, a series of pioneering studies have started to uncover the vast potential of such data to estimate the policy positions of political actors. Adding to this emerging strand in the scholarly literature, the present article explores the validity of individual policy positions derived from the social network structure of the microblogging platform Twitter. At the aggregate party level, cross-validation with external data sources suggests that SNS data provide valid policy position estimates. In contrast, the empirical analysis reveals only a moderate connection between individual policy positions retrieved from the social network structure and those retrieved from members of parliament individual voting record. These results thus highlight the potential as well as important limitations of SNS data in indicating the policy positions of political parties and individual legislators.
TL;DR: It is found not only that certain mouse movements are highly predictive of difficulty but also that such movements add considerable value when used in conjunction with response times.
Abstract: A key goal of survey interviews is to collect the highest quality data possible from respondents In practice, however, it can be difficult to achieve this goal because respondents do not always un
TL;DR: This article empirically evaluate several methods for filtering hyperlink networks in order to reconstruct networks that contain only webpages that deal with a particular issue and found that keyword filtering and automated classification of webpages were the most effective methods for reducing noise.
Abstract: In this article, we focus on noise in the sense of irrelevant information in a data set as a specific methodological challenge of web research in the era of big data. We empirically evaluate several methods for filtering hyperlink networks in order to reconstruct networks that contain only webpages that deal with a particular issue. The test corpus of webpages was collected from hyperlink networks on the issue of food safety in the United States and Germany. We applied three filtering strategies and evaluated their performance to exclude irrelevant content from the networks: keyword filtering, automated document classification with a machine-learning algorithm, and extraction of core networks with network-analytical measures. Keyword filtering and automated classification of webpages were the most effective methods for reducing noise, whereas extracting a core network did not yield satisfying results for this case.
TL;DR: The findings of the study suggested that SE is a critical and shaping construct when the decreasing impact of both GPA and general health positive on Facebook addiction is a concern.
Abstract: This study investigates the mediation impact of grade point average (GPA) and general health positive on Facebook addiction via self-esteem (SE) under the provision of active daily use of Facebook....
TL;DR: In this article, a gap in services because social media has created new ways of managing trauma is identified, and practitioners identify treatments for these issues, but they do not identify treatments that are suitable for mental health patients.
Abstract: Trauma-based interventions are common in mental health practice, and yet there is a gap in services because social media has created new ways of managing trauma. Practitioners identify treatments f...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors introduce two new measures of connection and information diffusion that help shed light on patterns of political communication online and identify which actors reach different publics with their messages.
Abstract: Social media have changed the way citizens, journalists, institutions, and activists communicate about social and political issues However, questions remain about how information is diffused through these networks and the degree to which each of these actors is influential in communicating information In this study, we introduce two novel social network measures of connection and information diffusion that help shed light on patterns of political communication online The Audience Diversity Score assesses the diversity of a particular actor's followers and identifies which actors reach different publics with their messages The Communication Connector Bridging Score highlights the most influential actors in the network who are potentially able to connect different spheres of communication through their information diffusion We apply and discuss these measures using Twitter data from the discussion regarding the Transatlantic Trade Investment Partnership in Europe Our results provide unique insights into the role various actors play in diffusing political information in online social networks
TL;DR: In this article, the authors developed and validated a 25-item instrument based on open-ended qualitative essays written by 141 Indian and Pakistani adolescents who use the Facebook photo-tagging service.
Abstract: Despite the growing attention to the study of various issues concerning online self-presentation, little research has investigated the different reasons underlying the avoidance of online identity and presentation building features. Using a multistage investigation, this study has developed and validated a 25-item instrument for investigating the various reasons why young people avoid Facebook photo tagging. The instrument items were developed based on open-ended qualitative essays written by 141 Indian and Pakistani adolescents who use the Facebook photo-tagging service. From their qualitative responses, 38 items were first extracted and evaluated with 780 Indian adolescent photo taggers. This resulted in the development of a 25-item instrument which was reexamined a year later with 314 Indian adolescent and 106 young adult photo taggers. The study participants were recruited from India and Pakistan in order to address the criticism of previous Facebook research which is chiefly based on U.S.-only study ...
TL;DR: This work introduces Eventus ID, new software for supervised event coding from text written in Spanish, which generates daily georeferenced data on how the military fights organized criminals in Mexico.
Abstract: Recent innovations in conflict and computer research favor generating massive event data using automated coding protocols. Unfortunately, these approaches almost exclusively rely on English-languag...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine the costs and benefits of nongovernmental organization (NGO) networking using a complex systems approach and agent-based modeling to simulate the effects of NGOs' efforts to seek influence in policy making at home and abroad.
Abstract: We examine the costs and benefits of nongovernmental organization (NGO) networking using a complex systems approach and agent-based modeling to simulate the effects of NGOs’ efforts to seek influence in policy making at home and abroad. We elaborate on the boomerang model developed by Keck and Sikkink and uncover macro-level effects of multiple NGOs networking for policy influence in multiple states around multiple positions on the same issue simultaneously. The results of our model and simulations lead us to argue that the boomerang effect has interesting unexplored implications for NGO behavior and state policy worthy of further empirical testing. We find that networking is necessary for NGOs to change state policy but leads to a higher likelihood of organizational collapse for NGOs. Although networking leads to policy change, as is well demonstrated within existing literature, our model suggests that efficacy comes at a cost to NGOs, which should make analysts and academics more ambivalent about the ad...