Module 3.2 will introduce you to tools for collecting data from the Twitter and YouTube platforms. Before working through the module, review the following articles, which contextualize the data collection process and outline specific ethical concerns for using Twitter data.
-
- Driscoll, Kevin, and Shawn Walker. “Working Within a Black Box: Transparency in the Collection and Production of Big Twitter Data.” International Journal of Communication 8, (2014): 20.
- Jackson, Sarah J., and Brooke Foucault Welles. “Hijacking #myNYPD: Social Media Dissent and Networked Counterpublics.” Journal of Communication 65, no. 6 (2015): 932-52.
- Ahmed, Wasim, Peter Bath, and Gianluca Demartini. “Using Twitter as a Data Source: An Overview of Ethical, Legal, and Methodological Challenges.” In: The Ethics of Online Research: Advances in Research Ethics and Integrity (2), 79-107. Emerald, 2017. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/S2398-601820180000002004
Following these readings, review the following tutorials: TAGS Tutorial; Twitter Data Scraping Tutorial; and Twitter Scraper Slides part 1 and part 2. Dr. Stephanie Vie’s Gathering Twitter Data video outlines the challenges of Twitter data collection as well as offering suggestions for scraping data. Experiment with the process outlined in the Advanced Twitter Data Collection video, created and narrated by Dr. Mel Stanfill, which uses the Twitter API.
Finally, review this introduction to collecting data from YouTube, explained in the following tutorial.
After reviewing the above materials, complete the Preliminary Data Collection assignment, which asks you to submit screenshots of your data collection process along with a short reflection.
