Reading for Discussion

  • Kasperson, R. Renn, O., Slovic, P, Brown, H., Emel, J., Goble, R., Kasperson, J., Ratick, S. (1988). The social amplification of risk: A conceptual framework. Society for Risk Analysis, 8(2), 177–187. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1539-6924.1988.tb01168.x

The reading above is often cited in hazard, risk and disaster literature as a framework for thinking about communication systems and the perils of incomplete or inaccurate information. Although it was written prior to the invention and widespread adoption of social media, the implications are clear. How could this framework help inform your final project research questions and analyses?

Graphing Social Networks

We can construct graph models of social networks by measuring associations between users. These can be defined by the frequency and direction of interactions on the social media platform. Common interaction types include following, liking, reposting/retweeting, and replying. Social media users become nodes (points) in the network, and their interactions become edges (connecting lines). From there, all sorts of network characteristics can be visualized and calculated!

Final Project Groups:

Groups of two to four students will be formed based on prior experience and research interest.

Final Project Expectations:

  • An insightful Geographic Research Question that can be answered with analysis and visualization of social media and Census data.
  • Data Analysis using R code that is reproducible, legible, and well-documented.
  • Data Visualization of your results integrating multiple visualization types and some narrative with an emphasis on legibility and telling an insightful story.
  • Attribution of sources for all data, software, ideas, and any authorized use of code.
  • Presentation of the final project to the full DSAD class (time T.B.D. on last two days of class)

  • Submission of the final code repository on GitHub by noon EST of Friday, January 31.

  • Data for final projects is available in a private repository: github.com/opengisci/opengisci_restricted