Description of work
WP2 applies existing tools and develops new methods to identify, track and model the online component of public debates over science. The first task will be to identify online sources of information. These will include (a) sources that are expected to be influential, such as mass media (i.e. online newspapers, including the free components of print newspapers), (b) sources reflecting deliberate attempts at interventions in public debates by individual citizens (e.g. personal web pages), and (c) less formal, faster moving expressions of public opinions of science, and in particular the Web log (Blog). The preliminary stage of the identification of relevant sources of information will take place using an old public debate, such as GM foods. This will allow data collection strategies to be developed and refined prior to being used in real-time. Existing tools for analyzing this data will also be tested and methodologies developed for applying them.
The second task will be to identify and track new debates, using the new methods and known data sources. At the same time, new types of data source will also be sought. The target will be to track four emergent debates: two online avalanches and two non-avalanches. In the nature of these, the outcome of any debate will not be known in advance and so emergent ‘promising’ debates will be tracked. In a worst-case scenario of no avalanches occurring, historical avalanches will be analyzed instead. This part of the workpackage will operate in close communication with WP2, but with a focus on the eventual incorporation of actor relationships and information relationships into the production of indicators for emergent debates.
The third task will be to develop a general model of avalanche and non-avalanche behavior, with the emphasis being on producing a method that will aid policy makers (a) to identify the difference between the two types of event at an early a stage as possible (i.e. predict likely sources of avalanches), and (b) to discover critical points for strategic intervention by policy makers and advisors. This statistical model developed will be later mapped to the more analytical model of WP 1.
T4.1: Identification of data sources for online public debates, developing and testing analysis methods
T4.2: Tracking of four case studies
T4.3: Post-data analysis: developing a model, predictive methods and methods for effective intervention |
