Method

ARCH9090 2h

METHOD METHOD

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PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT METHOD

The public involvement methods incorporated in this study ranged from informing the potential participants on the scope of the topic to consulting them through various qualitative and quantitative methods. The chart below outlines the sequence of the public involvement process incorporated in the study.

INFORM: Communication Collateral

Fact Sheet Sell Document

29th November 2021

1st December 2021 Commencement of Intensive Unit

CONSULT:

Internet Database (Twitter)

13th December 2021 - 14th December 2021

14th December 2021 CONSULT:

Online Questionnaire

CONSULT:

Online In-depth Interview

Continual Data Collection

22nd December 2021 Conclusion of Intensive Unit

INFORMATION ON THE TOPIC

A suite of communication collateral was produced to empower the potential audience who are unfamiliar with the hot topic (social media censorship) and provide them with the knowledge to make an informed decision during the consultation process.

WHAT IS IT? “A communication collateral is print or digital media material that are used for promotion of the Public Involvement event and inform the public with the factual content and process” (Schueller, 2021).

Although various forms of passive materials can be used to inform the public, a suite of Fact Sheets, Image Poster and Sell Document has been used in this study. The research content (facts & graphics) on social media censorship (selected hot topic) was presented in the Comms Collateral through interplay of text, graphics, and signposting (refer to the appendix).

USING INTERNET DATA (TWITTER)

Data collected from secondary data sources like internet databases (Twitter) has been used as one of the techniques to understand the wider public opinion and discussion on social media censorship.

WHAT IS IT? Twitter is a global platform that allows its members to post (tweet) opinions/ information publicly within its 280-character limit. The data collection can be done by the users using the in-built filter settings or various external data scraping software. However, for the purpose of the study, considering the time and cost constraints, an inbuilt filter mechanism has been used to curate data using hashtags and keywords (York, 2020).

PROS

The method is quick, inexpensive, and user-friendly allowing researchers to collect large amounts of data within limited resources. It provides access to information from wider audience across countries and social profiles The voluminous twitter archived database allows to analyse the change of trend over the time It provides access to real time data on the hot topic trends It provides opportunities to understand the relation between the social networks that are actively discussing the hot topic through exploring the organisations, personalities an individual or organisation follows.

CONS

The data tweeted on the platform is subjected to the platform’s guidelines and the government regulations. It is to be noted that not all countries allow the access of Twitter platform, hence may not provide insights of those potential audience. Although twitter is available in various languages, the report is restricted to English tweets only. The data available may not necessarily be factual, it can be influenced by the popular opinions and unreported fake news.

Figure 4: Twitter Homescreen showing news feeds and search bar to explore the platform (Twitter, 2006)

ONLINE QUESTIONNAIRE

An online questionnaire technique has been used as a public consultation strategy in this study. The method takes a positivist approach to gauge a broad understanding and opinion of the wider public on social media censorship. The process was carried through recording the self-reported characteristics, behaviours, opinion, and expectations of the participants.

WHAT IS IT? A survey is the measure of variables through recording answers for the same questions in the questionnaire by every respondent. It provides ‘hard’ quantitative data to derive a casual relationship between the social reality using statistics.

PROS

Online web-based survey is a fast and inexpensive way to collect data from wider range of participants. The method generates quantifiable data that can be compared between the respondents by following a ‘linear research path’ with the same sequence of questions for every respondent. This method allowed a precise measurement of social reality through use of standardised questionnaire and measurement scales for all the respondents (For instance: Measurement scales likes discret:e age groups, Yes/no options and so on as shown in Fig. 5). The standardised data collection provides an opportunity to derive the causal relationship of social reality. The standardisation of the procedure makes it easy to replicate for large survey group and in future research

CONS

As the sampling group for this method was selected through non-probability convenience sampling, the respondent group is restricted to the researcher’s social network only. Online questionnaire technique is restricted to people who have access to the internet and excludes other user groups. The insights derived from this technique is restricted to the level of measurement used in the questionnaire (For instance: The range of age groups selected as in Question no. 3, generalises characteristics/behaviour for the age group, while a more detailed analysis may exhibit variation of characteristics with the age group as in Fig. 5). The method does not provide sufficient insight on the context of the data collected (For instance: The question no. 10 in the questionnaire, on the expectation of future social media censorship, does not provides the reason or context of the answer). The method does not generate a deeper and more complex understanding of the hot topic.

The causal relationship derived through this method can be falsifiable through other empirical evidence.

CONS CONTINUED

The data collected is what people believe is appropriate, while the actual actions may differ (For instance: People may believe political content should be censored in social media, but they themselves may support political criticism). This concept is further explored by Pager and Quillian (2005, as cited in Neuman, 2012).

Figure 5: Question No. 2 from the online questionnaire with discrete measurement scale (discrete age group) as a Quantitative Research Method (Begum et al., 2021)

ONLINE IN-DEPTH INTERVIEWS

An in-depth face to face interview technique has been used as one of the public consultation strategies in this study. This method provides a deeper and contextual understanding on a hot topic, through an interviewer guided questions on a selected group of interviewees.

WHAT IS IT? In-depth interview is a qualitative research method used to obtain detailed information on the hot topic (social media censorship) from the respondents through open-ended, discoverable question structured to understand the opinion, experience, and feelings of the interviewee (Wallace Foundation, 2021)

PROS

The method takes a ‘non-linear research’ method providing opportunity to discover new ideas / concepts on the selected hot topic. The method provides a deeper and complex understanding of the hot topic with opportunity for probe questions to gain better understanding on the topic. Non-verbal communication like contextual cues, tone and expression of the respondent provides an additional connotation to the answer. Provides opportunity of the interviewer to control the topic, direction, and pace of the interview.

CONS

The method is time consuming and expensive. (For instance, this method took approximate of 3 hours in total to interview, transcription, review the interview and analyse of each interview). This method has a risk of interviewer bias through use of wordings, tone of the interviewer. The respondents may interpret question based on their familiarity and experience in a way easier for them to answer. The depth of knowledge of the participants may influence the quality of the answers. Although the interview structure can be replicated, it is difficult to replicate the interview itself. It provides opinions / expectations of the selected respondents and need not necessarily be the opinion of the wider public.

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Figure 6: Online In-depth Interview via Zoom Application as a Qualitative Research Method (Huddleston, 2020)