A summary of research outputs utilizing a Twitter dataset provided by Big Mountain Data by Purdue University researchers.

1. UNDERSTANDING
#WHYISTAYED
Summary of research outputs utilizing a Twitter
dataset provided by Big Mountain Data

2. RESEARCH TEAM
Jasmine R. Linabary
(PhD) is an assistant
professor of Digital
Communication at Emporia
State University. She
recently served as the
associate director of
research and operations for
the Purdue Peace Project at
Purdue University. Her
research focuses on
organizing, new media, and
social change.
Danielle J. Corple
(MA) is a PhD candidate in
the Brian Lamb School of
Communication at Purdue
University. A former writing
director for an
anti-trafficking
organization, she now
studies nonprofits,
gender-based violence,
ethics, and new media.
Cheryl Cooky
(PhD) is an associate
professor of American
Studies and Women's,
Gender, and Sexuality
Studies at Purdue
University. She is the
co-author of No Slam Dunk:
Gender, Sport, and the
Unevenness of Social
Change (Rutgers University
Press).
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3. NAVIGATING BIG DATA DILEMMAS
▪ In this paper, we outline several challenges to
conducting Big Data social media research and
articulate a feminist ethics informed by feminist
holistic reflexivity and attuned to power dynamics to
help Big Data researchers navigate this terrain.
Cooky, C., Linabary, J.R., & Corple, D.J. (accepted with minor revisions). Navigating Big Data dilemmas:
Feminist holistic reflexivity in social media research. Big Data & Society. [Earlier version presented at the
annual conference of the International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry, Champaign, IL, May 2016]
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4. VOICE, DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, & DIGITAL ACTIVISM
▪ We examine the ways in which the hashtag creates a
space for feminist activism and produces
contradictions.
▫ Methods: Qualitative thematic analysis of 51,577 tweets
(cleaned dataset) and in-depth interviews with individuals
who participated in the hashtag
Linabary, J.R., Corple, D.J., & Cooky, C. (2018, May). Voice, domestic violence, and digital activism:
Examining contradictions in hashtag feminism. Paper presented at the annual conference of the
International Communication Association, Prague, Czech Republic. [Preliminary findings presented at
Console-ing Passions: International Conference on Television, Video, Audio, New Media and Feminism,
Notre Dame, IN, June 2016]
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5. CHALLENGING THE DOMINANT DV NARRATIVE
▪ This paper challenges the DV “formula story” by
examining the complexities of abuse and survivors’
sense-making of sharing their experiences online.
▫ Methods: Semantic network analysis of a subset of 19,345
tweets sharing survivor narratives and qualitative thematic
analysis of in-depth interviews with DV survivors who
participated in the hashtag
Corple, D.J., Linabary, J.R., & Cooky, C. (in progress). Challenging the dominant narrative: Understanding
the complexity of domestic violence through #WhyIStayed.
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6. SENSE-MAKING of #WHYISTAYED
▪ This paper examines how users
make sense of the hashtags
#WhyIStayed/#WhyILeft as a
form of activism.
▫ Methods: Semantic network
analysis and qualitative thematic
analysis of a subset of 2,450 tweets
discussing the hashtag
Corple, D.J., Linabary, J.R., & Cooky, C. (2017, November). ‘So
powerful!’: Examining the sense-making of feminist hashtags
#WhyIStayed/#WhyILeft. Paper presented at the annual conference of
the National Communication Association, Dallas, TX. 6

7. SPORTS AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
▪ We interrogate the potentials of social media to
amplify voices often silenced and examine the role of
sports as a catalyst to wider conversations about
social issues like domestic violence.
▫ Methods: Qualitative thematic analysis of a subset of tweets
and in-depth interviews
Linabary, J.R., Corple, D.J., & Cooky, C. (2018, November). “#WhyIStayed three years and $30 million”: Sports
and domestic violence in the context of hashtag activism. Paper to be presented at the annual conference of
the North American Society for the Sociology of Sport, Vancouver, BC. [Session on
Sport and Domestic Violence: The Truth Behind Closed Doors]
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8. COLLABORATIVE FEMINIST REFLEXIVITY
▪ Reflexivity is a hallmark of high quality qualitative
research; yet existing scholarship and practice has mostly
focused on individual self-examination.
▪ Drawing on our experiences working together around the
#WhyIStayed dataset, this paper offers an approach to
reflexivity in the context of team-based collaborations
and specific practices for researchers.
Linabary, J.R., Corple, D.J., & Cooky, C. (2017, May). Of wine and whiteboards: Enacting feminist reflexivity in
collaborative research. Paper presented at the annual conference of the International Congress of Qualitative
Inquiry, Champaign, IL.
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Questions?
For additional information, contact Cheryl Cooky, PhD,
at ccooky@purdue.edu