Elite Research Statistical Consulting

At the heart of your research is the data or information that you need to answer your research questions and achieve your research goals. You may require direct interaction with people, tangible experiences, or indirect information found in a museum. Each type of data collected has unique procedures in which we can provide expert advice.

Social Media

What is it? Social media in qualitative data collection is the use of online data that is usually shared, modified, and collaborated among large or small groups of people on websites and internet forums. Social media consists of online applications such as:

collaborative websites (e.g. Wikipedia)
content-sharing communities (e.g. Instagram; TikTok)
microblogs and blogs (e.g. phdstudent.com; Twitter)
multiplayer virtual games (e.g. Fortnite; World of Warcraft)
social networking (e.g. Facebook; WhatsApp)
virtual social worlds (e.g. Second Life; The Sims)

Data from social media may be useful for your project because you can get different dimensions that may be not be possible through personal contact or being in a physical space. There may be different types of behavior on social media that are not found in face-to-face settings. For example, the choice of anonymity of contributors may reveal more open and honest thoughts that are not evident in-person. You may be able to connect with participants through social media who you would not be able to meet in other settings.

There are some drawbacks to using data from social media in your project. The first is the high volume. You cannot control the amount, type, and veracity of the data because online content on a topic may be diverse, with several entries from persons across the world. The text is also different from focus groups and interviews, with emoticons/emojis, avatars, and weblinks, which can be difficult to transcribe or translate for analysis. Fieldwork may be challenging to record because exploring online activities may exclude other senses, such as smell and touch that could be crucial to arts-based and arts-informed projects.

The use of social media could have some legal and ethical implications. One concern is privacy. There is ongoing debate on the use of social media data on public fora in research. Policies about social media data are still developing and questions about a person’s freedom of expression is debatable. If you are interested in using data from YouTube, Twitter, and other platforms, it is important to review the current policies and regulations.

The use of social media may exclude persons who do not have access to or are uncomfortable with online communication. Also, the anonymity of participants may be challenging to verify if the information shared is reliable. Our consultants can help you maximize social media data that best aligns with your qualitative research project.