Tow Center Research Methods Workshop
On June 15–16, 2018, the Tow Center for Digital Journalism, in collaboration the University of Leeds, held its inaugural workshop on research methods. Programmed by Chris Anderson, this workshop convened scholars and practitioners from a diverse range of expertise for discussions on multi-method research, field work and ethnography, misinformation, computational journalism, scraping and network analysis, and issues in race, gender and power. Additionally, breakout sessions gave participants a chance to refine their research projects with the speakers, as well as Tow staff and fellows.
See below for the full agenda, with links to available presentations. The second Research Methods Workshop will be held in June 2019 at Columbia Journalism School; please reach out at towcenter@columbia.edu if you’d like to learn more.
Tow Center Research Methods Workshop
June 15–16, 2018
Columbia Journalism School
2950 Broadway, New York, NY 10027
9:30am Welcome (Emily Bell, Tow Center)
9:35am Plan of the weekend and introduction (C.W. Anderson, University of Leeds)
9:45am Overview of Tow Center and research programs (Kathy Zhang, Tow Center)
10:15am Keynote: Designing Multi-Method Research (Daniel Kreiss, University of North Carolina)
overview of methodological work and best practices for conducting research that draws on a variety of different methods in order to answer specific public problems
11:15am Method Talk One: The Fundamentals of Media and Journalism Research (Jenny Stromer-Galley, Syracuse University [presentation]; Ros Donald, Columbia University [presentation]; MODERATOR: Sam Ford, Rural Journalism Innovation Lab & Tow Center)
basics of communication and media industries research: computational content analysis, interviews, and archival work
12:15pm-1:15pm Method Talk Two: Understanding Misinformation and Trust (Bernat Ivancsics, Columbia University [presentation]; Andrea Wenzel, Temple University & Tow Center [presentation]; MODERATOR: Pri Bengani, Tow Center)
examination of how and why misinformation spreads and the methods one can use in order to tease misinformation diffusion apart
2:00pm Method Talk Three: Ethnography and Journalism (Elizabeth Hansen, Harvard University [presentation]; Carlos Martinez de la Serna, Committee to Protect Journalists [presentation]; MODERATOR: C.W. Anderson, University of Leeds)
qualitative researchers who have studied journalism and the news as well as journalists who have used ethnographic methods discuss the similarities and differences between their two approaches
3:00pm Method Talk Four: Scraping and Network Analysis (Matt Weber, University of Minnesota [presentation]; Kris Erickson, University of Leeds [presentation]; Victoria Baranetsky, Center for Investigative Reporting; MODERATOR: Jon Keegan, Tow Center)
analysis of how specific research projects have used website scraping and network analysis to conduct media and communication research
Saturday, June 16
9:00am Keynote: The Craft of Public Research (Sarah Stonbely, Montclair State)
how to generate scholarship that speaks to a wide variety of communities, from activists to politicians to the general public
9:30am Keynote: Research Design, Race, Gender and Power (Racquel Gates, City University of New York)
how issues of power, race, and gender play out in communication and journalism studies research, and are inevitably implicated in the methods we use to answer our research topics
10:30am Reading the room: research interests and topics
1:00pm Breakouts
discussions and troubleshooting of research project among participants and presenters, grouped around overlapping methodological interests
