2013 Fiscal Year Research-status Report
| Project/Area Number |
25330381
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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| Research Institution | University of Tsukuba |
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Principal Investigator |
タック川崎 レスリー 筑波大学, 人文社会系, 准教授 (70580497)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2013-04-01 – 2016-03-31
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| Keywords | Internet Campaigning / Political Communication / Online Research Methods |
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| Research Abstract |
In order to focus on political party and candidate use of the Internet, including social media, I collected Internet-based data during the 2013 Upper House election period in early July. I created a master list of Upper House candidates, their websites, and the addresses of their public Facebook, Twitter, and video websites. Based on this master list, I confirmed high rates of candidate website utilization (92.6%), as well as high rates of Twitter (71.5%), Facebook (85.3%), and video channels (mainly Youtube, 33.6%).
Using this master list, I archived their websites, Facebook and Twitter pages, and made notations about the number of videos and their popularity. By doing so, I preliminarily observed four trends. First, candidates utilized media segmentation strategies, using different Internet-based media channels for different purposes. Twitter was used to promote speeches and schedules, and websites were used for providing in-depth policy-related information. Second, the high percentage of Facebook utilization demonstrates a trend towards “personalizing” the campaign by maintaining personal networks and providing event photos. Third, candidates pursued branding strategies by creating personalized logos and placing logos on all Internet-based forms of campaigning. Finally, dedicated video channels (such as Youtube channels) were not as popular among candidates as other forms of social media.
A paper based on these preliminary trends has been submitted to the Association of Internet Researcher Annual Conference (October 2014) (acceptance pending).
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| Current Status of Research Progress |
Current Status of Research Progress
3: Progress in research has been slightly delayed.
Reason
This project has been slightly delayed for the following reasons.
First, creating the master list of candidate websites and accompanying social media websites took a great deal of time, as no official master list existed at the time of the election. Although it took more time than originally anticipated, this difficulty was resolved by continuously checking and re-checking candidate websites and newspaper websites for updated lists. Second, the amount of data collected (archived websites, Twitter feeds, Facebook pages, and video-channel use) was greater than originally anticipated. Great care and attention was paid to the archiving activity to ensure that all possible websites and social media channels were identified and archived. Although the start of the actual analysis has been delayed because preparing this amount of data for coding has taken more time than anticipated, the broad range and depth of the data collected can compensate for this delay. Third, finding coders to manually code the data has been challenging. Native-language coders are necessary for the coding process, as they possess important cultural and linguistic knowledge to ensure coding accuracy. However, arrangements are being made to hire manual coders and train them as soon as possible in the 2014-15 academic year. Finally, although public dissemination of the results have been delayed (mainly due to the above noted reasons) to date, the results will be publicly disseminated as they become available within the next year.
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| Strategy for Future Research Activity |
In the 2014-15 academic year, I intend to undertake the following activities to continue this research.
First, I will hire coders for the manual coding of the website, Facebook, and Twitter data as soon as possible during the first half of the 2014-15 academic year. Part of the results from the coding will be used to prepare the planned paper for the Association of Internet Researchers Annual Conference in October 2014 (acceptance pending). I anticipate that the entire set of the coding results will be available by October 2014. These results will be publicly disseminated through a website. The coding results will also form the basis for at least two papers to be submitted to relevant academic journals by December 2014, as well as provide source data for chapters in the planned book publication. Second, during the period from April to October 2014, I will also draft at least two chapters of the book that will be published concerning this research. Source publications (books and journal papers) concerning the background of the Public Offices Election Law were purchased and utilized in the 2013-14 academic year, and these will be used as reference materials for the two chapters. Third, I intend to conduct the focus-group interviews during the period between October 2014 and February 2015. As the focus-group interview results become available, I will also publicly disseminate them on the project website and incorporate the results into the planned book publication.
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| Expenditure Plans for the Next FY Research Funding |
I am requesting that my research funding be carried forward to the next fiscal year because of the slight delay in analyzing the data collected during the 2013 Upper House election. Given the great amount of data collected, preparing the data for analysis and finding qualified coders has taken more time than originally anticipated. Allowing the funding to be carried forward will greatly benefit the progress of this research project and allow the researcher the opportunity to augment the Internet-based data with qualitative focus-group interview data.
The funding will be used for the following purposes: (1) Technical and administrative personnel assistance (website coders and administrative assistance for conducting the focus-group interviews; (2) Production costs associated with writing two academic papers for presentation at academic conferences (copying, printing, and gathering background literature); (3) Travel to two international academic conferences to present academic papers featuring the results of this research; (4) Administrative costs incurred in preparing for the focus-group interview portion of this research (printed materials and other related costs); (5) Technical assistance (programming) personnel costs incurred to create a public website disseminating the research results.
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