Digging into Digital Footprints Data
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Bristol
Department Name: Sociology
Abstract
Digital footprints data (DFD) provide a remarkable new source of social information for researchers, offering access to human behaviour, in real time, over time and at scale. For all their potential for augmenting and transforming the very nature of social research, concerns over how these data interact with trusted, well-established principles of empirical social science have impeded broad uptake by social researchers. The processes that underpin how DFD are created, collected and used are often not accessible to researchers and have significant implications for understanding what these data are, how they should be used and the methodological and ethical consequences of their use within social research. In collaboration with cross-sector partners, our project is focused on prototyping methods for making these processes visible to social researchers. This investigation is critical to ensure the credible and authoritative use of DFD in social science research and to realise the expectations of DFD for enhancing our understanding of society. We will explore two central research questions:
1. How can DFD be systematically investigated and described to support robust social research methodologies? Building on prior research, the project will work in partnership with data owners and social researchers to produce 'data journeys' that map data practices within each empirical case. This work will feed into the development of an open framework for describing and re-using data, that documents practices surrounding each form of DFD. The framework will take the form of key questions that elicit essential information about DFD to enable greater uptake of DFD research within the social sciences.
2. What models of methodological collaboration can be developed with DFD-intensive organisations outside academic research? The project will also explore collaborative models for DFD knowledge exchange, in ways that contribute to data sharing, but also the creation of shared research agendas and forms of methodological collaboration that leverages cross-sector expertise around the challenges and opportunities of DFD.
The project has three work packages (WP1-3) designed to address our research questions and facilitate capacity-building in the lead-up to Phase 2 of the UKRI Smart Data Research UK programme. Our partners form the basis for three empirical DFD case studies, focusing on: web archives (Internet Archive), social media data (Maybe*) and synthetic data (LV= General Insurance). Each partner brings significant experiences and expertise working with a specific form of DFD, providing ideal conditions for collectively interrogating how DFD are collected, created and aggregated, as well as the different practices and forms of expertise that have emerged around DFD within each organisation (WP1). Using interviews, documentary research and observations, we will identify and examine the sociotechnical practices that underpin key datasets, for each form of DFD, as well as identifying their potential opportunities or implications for social science research. Following these activities, the project will engage targeted groups of social researchers to 'dig into' DFD together with external partners (WP2). Hands-on workshops will provide the means through which to feed-back insights from parallel partner engagements, as well as cultivate potential new projects and collate key concerns about how researchers want to engage DFD in their own research domains. Both strands of work will feed into our prototype development of an open and flexible framework for describing and re-using data that documents the motivations, composition and collection practices surrounding our example forms of DFD (WP3). In addition to generating specific insights into three forms of DFD, this work will provide a prototype methodology that is extensible to other forms of DFD, with the goal of building critical capacity around a broader uptake of DFD in the social sciences.
1. How can DFD be systematically investigated and described to support robust social research methodologies? Building on prior research, the project will work in partnership with data owners and social researchers to produce 'data journeys' that map data practices within each empirical case. This work will feed into the development of an open framework for describing and re-using data, that documents practices surrounding each form of DFD. The framework will take the form of key questions that elicit essential information about DFD to enable greater uptake of DFD research within the social sciences.
2. What models of methodological collaboration can be developed with DFD-intensive organisations outside academic research? The project will also explore collaborative models for DFD knowledge exchange, in ways that contribute to data sharing, but also the creation of shared research agendas and forms of methodological collaboration that leverages cross-sector expertise around the challenges and opportunities of DFD.
The project has three work packages (WP1-3) designed to address our research questions and facilitate capacity-building in the lead-up to Phase 2 of the UKRI Smart Data Research UK programme. Our partners form the basis for three empirical DFD case studies, focusing on: web archives (Internet Archive), social media data (Maybe*) and synthetic data (LV= General Insurance). Each partner brings significant experiences and expertise working with a specific form of DFD, providing ideal conditions for collectively interrogating how DFD are collected, created and aggregated, as well as the different practices and forms of expertise that have emerged around DFD within each organisation (WP1). Using interviews, documentary research and observations, we will identify and examine the sociotechnical practices that underpin key datasets, for each form of DFD, as well as identifying their potential opportunities or implications for social science research. Following these activities, the project will engage targeted groups of social researchers to 'dig into' DFD together with external partners (WP2). Hands-on workshops will provide the means through which to feed-back insights from parallel partner engagements, as well as cultivate potential new projects and collate key concerns about how researchers want to engage DFD in their own research domains. Both strands of work will feed into our prototype development of an open and flexible framework for describing and re-using data that documents the motivations, composition and collection practices surrounding our example forms of DFD (WP3). In addition to generating specific insights into three forms of DFD, this work will provide a prototype methodology that is extensible to other forms of DFD, with the goal of building critical capacity around a broader uptake of DFD in the social sciences.
