Studying social experiences online with the National Internet Observatory

Session Submission Type: Workshop

Description

The Internet is an essential part of social life. However, it has become increasingly difficult to study in this Post-API Age as companies have erected technical, legal, and financial barriers for collecting data. The National Internet Observatory (NIO) was built at Northeastern University in response. The NIO provides researchers with ongoing access to data from thousands of participants including the websites they visit, the apps they use on their phone, their conversations with generative AI systems, and what they see and do on social media. Researchers write a study proposal to get access to the data. The proposal is reviewed by our ethics board. Once approved, researchers gain access to a secure data enclave to work with the data.

The goal of this workshop is to provide attendees with the training needed to design a feasible project, create a successful project application, and perform their research. Attendees will learn how participants are recruited, how data is generated, and what datasets are available. Attendees will then learn how to submit a successful project application. Project applications are primarily reviewed to ensure the ethical protection of participants; thus, the workshop will identify the core ethical requirements and protections required for project applications. Finally, workshop attendees will be introduced to the researcher enclave environment where they would work with NIO data. This will ensure they understand the capabilities provided for accessing and analyzing NIO data.

Sub Unit

• Workshops / Policy and Research Workshop

Presenter

• Jason Scott Radford, Northeastern University

Session Organizer

• Jason Scott Radford, Northeastern University