1. When Search Becomes Research â Part I
Query design
Anat Ben-David
Science, Technology and Society, Bar-Ilan University
anatbd@gmail.com
Erik Borra
Digital Methods Initiative, University of Amsterdam
erik@digitalmethods.net
2. When Search Becomes Research
Turning Google into a research tool
âWe look at Google search results and see society, instead of
Googleâ (Rogers, Stevenson, Weltevrede 2009)
3. Words/keywords
When words become âissue languageâ
Actors and their terminology: Keywords as positioning efforts
Note program, anti-program as well as efforts at net neutrality (Cf.
Akrich & Latour, 1992)
4. Keywords and source sets
âside by sidednessâ offical / non-official ⌠different kinds of actors
(living side by side) in an issue map. (Rogers, 2004)
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10. example:
Program / anti-program
How is the issue of âgoogle street viewâ and privacy is being treated when google-
related sites are excluded from the search?
1. âGoogle street viewâ +privacy 33,100,000 results
2. âGoogle street viewâ +privacy site:google.* 1,840 results
3. âGoogle street viewâ +privacy âsite:google.* 36,000,000 results
11. search/research
Search operators and syntax
Use, for example: +, ~, OR, NOT, SITE:, ââ
See, for example: http://www.googleguide.com/category/query-
input/
12. example:
Program / anti-program
A query design example using advanced operators:
⢠â~Cellular Phoneâ + âbrain tumorâ + ânot associatedâ
⢠â~Cellular Phoneâ + âbrain tumorâ + â270%â
⢠Compare two queries across different actors. Add âsite:.eduâ,
âsite:.comâ, .âsite:.orgâ, etc.
13. search/research
Research protocol For using Google
Google Settings:
⢠For the âuniversal Googleâ go to http://google.com/ncr or http://
google.com/intl/en
⢠Log out of your Gmail account
⢠Google preferences:
Set interface and search language
SafeSearch: Off
Google Instant: Off
Nr of Results: 100 per page
14. search/research
Research protocol For using Google
Clean browser
⢠Log out
⢠Clear cookies and the browserâs search history
⢠Or: create a âresearch browserâ (i.e. install a new one)
âTurning off search history personalizationâ
15. example:
Program / anti-program
A query design example using advanced operators:
⢠â~Cellular Phoneâ + âbrain tumorâ + ânot associatedâ
⢠â~Cellular Phoneâ + âbrain tumorâ + â270%â
⢠Compare two queries across different actors. Add âsite:.eduâ,
âsite:.comâ, .âsite:.orgâ, etc.
16. Example:
nationality of issues: Rights types
Can the search engine be repurposed to show which rights are specific per country?
Method
1. Query the term "rights" in national terminology per different Google
country (e.g. âdroitsâ in .fr, ârechtenâ in .nl)
2. Fetch the top 10 unique rights types.
3. Visualize top 10 issues per country and mark unique issues.
https://wiki.digitalmethods.net/Dmi/NationalityofIssues
18. search/research
Research protocol
Saving results for verification and retrieval
⢠âSave page asâ in the browser, name files and folder consistently
⢠Collect right types in spreadsheet (incl. translation)
⢠Merge results and collect saved files in one place
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23. search/research
Questions and related tools
Using Lippmannian Device aka Google scraper:
Resonance of controversial terms
⢠What are the relevant issues in the controversy?
⢠Where do controversial terms resonate?
24. EXAMPLE:
CLIMATE CHANGE SKEPTICS
Where do the skeptics get âair timeâ? Where are their audiences?
BBC cancels âPlanet Reliefâ program about environmental issues
âThe only reason why this became an issue is that there is a small but
vociferous group of climate âskepticsâ lobbying agains taking actionâ
- BBC News, 5 september 2007
https://wiki.digitalmethods.net/Dmi/ClimateChangeSkeptics
25. example:
climate change skeptics
Query design: What are the sources?
Top 100 results for the query âclimate changeâ
http://www.google.com/search?q="climate+change"&num=100
26. example:
climate change skeptics
Query design: What are the issues?
Derive list of climate change skeptics
Sources: motherjones.com, wikipedia.org, heartland.org
Compare the three lists and retain the skeptics that are mentioned in
at least two of the lists
27. example:
climate change skeptics
Skeptics
S. Fred Singer
Robert Balling
Sallie Baliunas
Patrick Michaels
Richard Lindzen
Steven Milloy
Timothy Ball
Paul Driessen
Willie Soon
Sherwood B. Idso
Frederick Seitz
28. example:
climate change skeptics
Google Scraper: Batch query Google
http://tools.issuecrawler.net/beta/scrapeGoogle
Enter sources in the top box
Enter keywords in the bottom box (mind the quotes)
Click âscrape Googleâ
29. Warning: excessive usage will bring this tool down
Make sure to pay attention to query design
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