New Publication: Meaningful measures of human society in the twenty-first century
How should social science make use of the vast new stores of data generated by modern technologies? Last week in Nature, Deen Freelon and his co-authors David Lazer, Eszter Hargittai, Sandra Gonzalez-Bailon, Kevin Munger, Katherine Ognyanova, & Jason Radford grappled with the methodological and ethical questions of working with data not specifically created for research.
The paper, “Meaningful measures of human society in the twenty-first century,” notes:
“Science rarely proceeds beyond what scientists can observe and measure, and sometimes what can be observed proceeds far ahead of scientific understanding. The twenty-first century offers such a moment in the study of human societies.”
In response to this challenge, the authors pose key questions for researchers to consider when working with pre-existing datasets:
What counts?
What is the temporal, spatial, structural and cultural integrity of the measure?
Who is counted?
What is accessible to counting?
What is ethical to count?
This week on Does Not Compute—Talking About Garbage
A lot of the time, when we talk about disinformation, it’s like we’re talking about garbage—not what’s in the garbage, or who made the garbage, or why the garbage spreads, just that there is garbage and we have to get rid of it. That’s a mistake.
Alice Marwick hosts this week’s episode and explores the relationship between disinformation, extremism, and media manipulation. Who’s behind white supremacist disinformation? What are their motivations? Why is this content so sticky, and how does it keep getting pushed into the mainstream?
Recent publications and appearances
“These emotional consequences often lead to self-censorship on the part of the target, causing them to decrease their online public presence. Finally, networked harassment reinforces the norms of participating networks, solidifying the boundaries between them and others.” Alice Marwick’s model of morally motivated networked harassment was featured in a Psychology Today analysis of how group identities contribute to dunking, harassment, and misinformation.
“If you're feeling disappointed about this outcome, and about your institution, I feel your pain. As a Black faculty member of the department she was recruited to join, I feel it more sharply than most.” Deen Freelon responded to the outcome of Nikole Hannah-Jones's tenure case.
Rest of Web
Tressie McMillan Cottom shared an article about the interplay between race and misogyny in incel communities:
Deen Freelon shared an article about Trumpism, partisanship, and out-group animosity.
UNC Faculty Chair Mimi Chapman calls for the formation of a “Coalition for Carolina” to reform the governance system that controls the university.