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Researching Online Communities and Cyberactivism Methodology. Shadi Abu-Ayyash. Research Questions. Examining: Online Collective Unified Discourse Identity Bonds & Ties. Study Case: pro-Palestine Activists and Solidarity Groups.
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Researching Online Communities and CyberactivismMethodology Shadi Abu-Ayyash
Research Questions Examining: Online Collective Unified Discourse Identity Bonds & Ties
Study Case: pro-Palestine Activists and Solidarity Groups 1. Geographical basis: Ireland, Scotland & England
2. Groups in Major Cities • Example: Groups in Ireland
4. Online Activity websites, blogs, email lists & social media
Interviews-Semi-Structured- • First Stage: Pilot Interviews- September 2012: 8 Irish, Scottish and English Activists • Second Stage: Large Scale Interviews-October 2012-Feb.2013
Questions Focus • Offline Activism Element • Online Activism Involvement • Nature of Online Content • Relation Among Cyber Activists • Expressing Self-Identity and Collective Identity Online
Online Surveys • Participants: Targeting university groups and activists who are much more active online. • Selection of participants will be based on: - Internet Activity • Gender • Ethnic Background • Level of University Education *Using SurveyMonkey
Survey Questions • Constancy of Online Activism • Time & Effort Contributed to the Cause Online • Type of Online Content Posted: • Organising offline/on ground activities? • Exchange of Information?
Online Content Analysis • Analysing content of: • Groups Official Websites • Content of Newsletter/Press Releases • Social Media network Groups • Activists Blogs
Online Content Analysis • Selected Content posted in 2011, 2012 and 2013 • Considering: • Major Political Events • Level of Online and Offline Activities
AnalysingText, Image and Video • Terms Used • Source of Contents: Original, Shared or Copied from Other Sources • Does it express all members’ position(s)? • Comments/replies: • Positive • Negative • Neutral
Nvivo • For organising qualitative data collected from interviews (text & audio content) online, and questionnaires • Nvivo 10 would analyse social media and webpages content
Visualising Data • Mapping Major Groups in Ireland and Britain • Online Connectivity Among Transnational Activist • Online Relation Among Activists in Social Media Networks • Groups/Activists Level of Online Involvement
NodeXL * Examining information exchange among activists who are twittering /tweeting trending topics on Twitter *Example of connection among users tweeting the phrase welcome2palestine
Gephito visualise ties among FB group members using Netvizz application Example of Connectivity among Westminster University-Palestine solidarity group members on Facebook
Expected Outcomes • Emergence of Cyber Groups Collective Identity • Effect of Online Involvement on Offline/Ground Activism • What Decides the Strength of Ties Among Online Activists: Topic, Geography, Political Position, Level of Participation?
In short RQs Bonds, Identity & Discourse Data Interviews, Online Surveys & Online Content Analysis Focus Groups Offline and Online Activity & Geography Software Nvivo, SurveyMonkey, Gephi, Netvizz & NodeXl Results 2014/2015
Useful Links • Gephi: https://gephi.org/ • Survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/ • Nvivo:http://www.nuigalway.ie/cs/staff/software/nvivo.html • Netvizz: http://apps.facebook.com/netvizz/ • NodeXl : http://nodexl.codeplex.com/
Thank You Shadi Abu-Ayyash Huston School of Film & Digital Media, NUIG shadi.abu-ayyash@nuigalway.ie http://actdigital.wordpress.com/ @shadi3000