Using Social Media to Measure and Understand Views About Religion and Potential Religion-Related Conflicts Across Sub-Saharan Africa

• In Event: Measurement Innovations in Criminology

Abstract

Researchers typically use social surveys to examine attitudes and behaviors across countries. While useful for understanding cross-national differences, they are expensive to collect, include only a limited number of questions and countries, and are quickly outdated. Many countries across the world now have residents who regularly use Twitter and Google, and the data generated by these social media platforms are increasingly available for analysis. Our study assesses the extent to which cross-national social media and survey measures related to religious expression are related. Focusing on Sub-Saharan Africa, where religiosity levels are high and surveys are difficult to administer, we find that measures derived from social media data, such as the proportion Christian and Muslim, correspond well with survey measures. We also show that Google Analytics provides a more representative assessment of religiosity measures than Twitter. Likewise, in contrast to Twitter, religious concepts derived from Google Analytics show a stronger relationship with cross-national survey measures and Google Analytics was particularly good at assessing Islamic religious expression. We discuss how social media data may be able to offer reliable and time-sensitive measures for examining differences across countries.

Authors

• Gary LaFree, University of Maryland

• Amy Adamczyk, City University of New York, John Jay College / Graduate Center

• Maria Barrera-Vilert, City University of New York, John Jay College / Graduate Center