research methods

By Nick Robinson Introduction With over 11bn views on TikTok and accusations that his extreme views are creating real world harm, Andrew Tate’s rise has precipitated alarm amongst policy makers, the media and the public and is symptomatic of the ‘growing visibility of online “manfluencers” who espouse extreme masculine ideals and share them with their ...

By Elisa Orofino Hizb ut-Tahrir (HT, literally “the Party of Liberation”) stands as one of the most long-living, transnational Islamist groups inspiring movements and organisations around the world since its inception in 1953 in Palestine. While no official figures on the membership have ever been published, it seems fair to state the HT is currently ...

By Matthew K. Carter On July 9, 2022, fourteen-year-old Ethan Reyes, better known as drill rapper Notti Osama, was stabbed to death on a New York City subway platform during a confrontation with a fifteen-year-old rival gang member. A couple months later, drill rappers Kyle Richh, Tata, and Jenn Carter, all members of the rap ...

By Esteban Villa-Turek, Rod Abhari, Mowafak Allaham, Chloe Mortenson & Ayse D. Lokmanoglu Introduction On November 3, 2020, as presidential votes were being cast around the United States, another form of political discussion was taking place on Parler, a far-right social media platform. Users had been using memes to shape the discussion around political events ...

By Mor Yachin & Rebecca Wilson In a world marked by political unrest and turmoil, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is among the most polarizing and contested conflicts in history – one that offers tremendous persuasive power to extremist propaganda. Groups like Al Qaeda, ISIS, Hamas, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) have become increasingly adept at producing ...

Par Ryan Scrivens, Joshua D. Freilich, Steven M. Chermak, and Richard Frank Le rôle de l’internet dans la facilitation de l’extrémisme et du terrorisme violent est une préoccupation majeure pour de nombreux chercheurs, professionnels et responsables politiques dans le monde. L’État islamique, une organisation internationalement reconnue comme terroriste, a diffusé en streaming des vidéos de ...

By Ryan Scrivens, Joshua D. Freilich, Steven M. Chermak, and Richard Frank Click to read this article in French. The role of the Internet in facilitating violent extremism and terrorism is a primary concern for many researchers, practitioners, and policymakers around the world. The so-called Islamic State, an internationally designated terrorist organization, released a steady ...

The webinar series Through the Looking Glass: How To Incorporate Visual Material Within Research, begins on Friday 20 October and runs until Wednesday 29 November. The series features VOX-Pol members and institutions, and is free and open to all. The webinar series is hosted by the National Centre for Research Methods and organised by the ...

By Wasim Ahmed When I wrote the original version of this post back in 2015, and the revised versions in 2017 and 2019, I wasn’t sure how long Twitter would provide access to its data. This was because after a string of public scandals other platforms such as Facebook had been closing or limiting access. Fast-forward to 2021, and something ...

By Wasim Ahmed This post builds upon the 2015, and 2017 editions of this post, captures key trends and events which are shaping social media research for social scientists and provides a collection of research methods and tools for the analysis of social media data. Since the 2017 edition of this blog post, I have ...