Exam requirements
Individually or jointly with your group, implement the project that you have developed during the workshop day and that was approved by the instructor. Your project must meet the following criteria:
- Apply at least one of the tools introduced at the course (YouTubeDataTools or 4CAT) for data extraction and analysis
- Extract data from at least one internet platform (e.g., TikTok, X, Instagram Youtube)
- Include the use of network graph visualisation software (e.g., Gephi),
- Include at least one visual analysis of a network
- Discuss ethical issues related to the project
Practical information about the assignment
- The paper has a maximum word count that depends on the size of your group:
- 1 student – maximum 2500 words +/- 500 words
- 2 students – maximum 2500 words +/- 500 words
- 4 students – maximum 3500 words +/- 500 words
- Your paper should be consistently referenced, using class material.
- For guidelines about use of sources, see: 'An introduction to writing of assignments in sociology'
- The list of references must conclude with the sentence: "All sources that have been used in this paper have been listed". - With this sentence you confirm that you have listed all the literature, you have used in your term paper, in the list of references.
- There are no specific formatting requirements, but we recommend a 12 pt font and 1.5 line spacing.
Information about submitting the exam paper as a group
If you participate in a group, it is important that you inform your course instructor/sensor about who is in your group.
Each individual student has to submit their entire group paper on Inspera. That means that multiple students will submit the same identical exam paper.
Your submission should contain two components, all compiled into one pdf file:
- A cover sheet containing the exam IDs (candidate numbers) of ALL group members
- The group paper
How will the paper be assessed?
The group papers will be judged on the basis of an overall assessment, including the following criteria:
- Is the chosen phenomenon mentioned in the research question sufficiently introduced and contoured? Is it clear what the paper is about?
- Has the group identified and successfully collected online data which is apt and sufficient to answer their research question?
- How sophisticated is the use of the tools chosen for data collection and analysis
- How many online sources/platforms are integrated (relative to group size)?
- How well are the different parts – e.g., work with Instagram and TikTok – of the analysis integrated?
- How well is the obligatory graph network accomplished and how well is visual analysis carried out?
- How well is the semantic dimension covered (if relevant)? Text analysis, semantic networks?
- Are ethical issues sufficiently reflected
- Are sensitive users sufficiently anonymized? Sensitive comments paraphrased
- Does the paper draw on the curriculum literature when discussing theoretical, analytical or methodological concepts? Does it use these concepts correctly?
- Is the actual operationalization working well in relation to the research question? Does the analysis sufficiently answer the questions posed? Do the students differentiate between central and more peripheral aspects? How differentiated and nuanced is the analysis?
- Formalities: Is the students’ text understandable? Does it progress in orderly fashion; is it well-structured? Do the different parts of the paper cohere? Is it correctly referenced? Is it possible to follow the students’ thoughts or argument through their text? Does the paper respect the word limit?
Paper structure
Your paper can be structured in many different ways, and below we indicate one possibility. A good individual paper, receiving and average note or above, will (somewhat) mirror the following paper structure and entail (many of) the following elements. The proportionate size of intro, methods, ethics and conclusion in relation to analysis will be larger in individual papers than in group papers.
Introduction (around 500 words)
- Describe the issue/phenomenon you are interested in, why it is interesting and how it can be observed online.
- Formulate a clear research question.
- Briefly point out which conceptual or ethical issues are relevant for this project.
- Roadmap for the paper. What are you going to do and in which order.
Methods (Around 750 words)
- Describe the digital methods you deployed in some detail, e.g., specifying not just the tool, but the specific functions of the tool, your search terms, search period, etc.
- Describe the data you collected (possibly multiple data sets).
- Address any measures you took (or believe would be required) to address ethical concerns. Justify eventual choices about not to anonymize important users?
- Reflect representativity issues (Could some of the findings be due to a certain 'profile' (economic background, political opinions) of users using that particular medium or platform).
Analysis/Results 1 (Main part of the paper, around 1000 words)
- Analyse your data and describe your findings
- Be sure to include a network graph and a visual analysis of it.
Integration/Discussion/Conclusion (Around 750 words)
- Ressume your findings.
- Discuss how the different parts of your analysis relate to each other.
- Sociological conclusions?
- Medium-specific conclusions? (if any)
- Zoom out! Does your findings say something about more general tendencies/developments
- Discuss possible limitations of your work
Useful links