Big data and development sociology: An overview and application on governance and accountability through digitalization in Tanzania
The digital revolution and the widespread use of the internet have changed many realms of empirical social science research. In this paper, we discuss the use of big data in the context of development sociology and highlight its potential as a new source of data. We provide a brief overview of big d...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2022-11-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Sociology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsoc.2022.909458/full |
| _version_ | 1811224668951019520 |
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| author | Nicole Schwitter Alexia Pretari William Marwa Simone Lombardini Ulf Liebe |
| author_facet | Nicole Schwitter Alexia Pretari William Marwa Simone Lombardini Ulf Liebe |
| author_sort | Nicole Schwitter |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The digital revolution and the widespread use of the internet have changed many realms of empirical social science research. In this paper, we discuss the use of big data in the context of development sociology and highlight its potential as a new source of data. We provide a brief overview of big data and development research, discuss different data types, and review example studies, before introducing our case study on active citizenship in Tanzania which expands on an Oxfam-led impact evaluation. The project aimed at improving community-driven governance and accountability through the use of digital technology. Twitter and other social media platforms were introduced to community animators as a tool to hold national and regional key stakeholders accountable. We retrieve the complete Twitter timelines up to October 2021 from all ~200 community animators and influencers involved in the project (over 1.5 million tweets). We find that animators have started to use Twitter as part of the project, but most have stopped tweeting in the long term. Employing a dynamic difference-in-differences design, we also do not find effects of Oxfam-led training workshops on different aspects of animators' tweeting behavior. While most animators have stopped using Twitter in the long run, a few have continued to use social media to raise local issues and to be part of conversations to this day. Our case study showcases how (big) social media data can be part of an intervention, and we end with recommendations on how to use digital data in development sociology. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T08:52:59Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-968e30c0e6d04ba9bca7502bbcafd480 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2297-7775 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T08:52:59Z |
| publishDate | 2022-11-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Sociology |
| spelling | doaj.art-968e30c0e6d04ba9bca7502bbcafd4802022-12-22T03:39:32ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Sociology2297-77752022-11-01710.3389/fsoc.2022.909458909458Big data and development sociology: An overview and application on governance and accountability through digitalization in TanzaniaNicole Schwitter0Alexia Pretari1William Marwa2Simone Lombardini3Ulf Liebe4Department of Sociology, University of Warwick, Coventry, United KingdomOxfam GB, Oxford, United KingdomOxfam International, Dar es Salaam, TanzaniaOxfam GB, Oxford, United KingdomDepartment of Sociology, University of Warwick, Coventry, United KingdomThe digital revolution and the widespread use of the internet have changed many realms of empirical social science research. In this paper, we discuss the use of big data in the context of development sociology and highlight its potential as a new source of data. We provide a brief overview of big data and development research, discuss different data types, and review example studies, before introducing our case study on active citizenship in Tanzania which expands on an Oxfam-led impact evaluation. The project aimed at improving community-driven governance and accountability through the use of digital technology. Twitter and other social media platforms were introduced to community animators as a tool to hold national and regional key stakeholders accountable. We retrieve the complete Twitter timelines up to October 2021 from all ~200 community animators and influencers involved in the project (over 1.5 million tweets). We find that animators have started to use Twitter as part of the project, but most have stopped tweeting in the long term. Employing a dynamic difference-in-differences design, we also do not find effects of Oxfam-led training workshops on different aspects of animators' tweeting behavior. While most animators have stopped using Twitter in the long run, a few have continued to use social media to raise local issues and to be part of conversations to this day. Our case study showcases how (big) social media data can be part of an intervention, and we end with recommendations on how to use digital data in development sociology.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsoc.2022.909458/fullaccountabilitybig datadevelopment sociologydifference-in-differencedigital dataTanzania |
| spellingShingle | Nicole Schwitter Alexia Pretari William Marwa Simone Lombardini Ulf Liebe Big data and development sociology: An overview and application on governance and accountability through digitalization in Tanzania Frontiers in Sociology accountability big data development sociology difference-in-difference digital data Tanzania |
| title | Big data and development sociology: An overview and application on governance and accountability through digitalization in Tanzania |
| title_full | Big data and development sociology: An overview and application on governance and accountability through digitalization in Tanzania |
| title_fullStr | Big data and development sociology: An overview and application on governance and accountability through digitalization in Tanzania |
| title_full_unstemmed | Big data and development sociology: An overview and application on governance and accountability through digitalization in Tanzania |
| title_short | Big data and development sociology: An overview and application on governance and accountability through digitalization in Tanzania |
| title_sort | big data and development sociology an overview and application on governance and accountability through digitalization in tanzania |
| topic | accountability big data development sociology difference-in-difference digital data Tanzania |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsoc.2022.909458/full |
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