{"id":88896,"date":"2012-12-20T16:00:07","date_gmt":"2012-12-20T21:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/2012\/12\/20\/methodology-in-social-media-and-opinion-pages-newtown-sparks-calls-for-gun-reform\/"},"modified":"2024-04-14T04:11:57","modified_gmt":"2024-04-14T09:11:57","slug":"methodology-in-social-media-and-opinion-pages-newtown-sparks-calls-for-gun-reform","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/journalism\/2012\/12\/20\/methodology-in-social-media-and-opinion-pages-newtown-sparks-calls-for-gun-reform\/","title":{"rendered":"Methodology: In Social Media and Opinion Pages, Newtown Sparks Calls for Gun Reform"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/journalism\/2012\/12\/20\/social-media-and-opinion-pages-newtown-sparks-calls-gun-reform\/\"><em>https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/journalism\/2012\/12\/20\/social-media-and-opinion-pages-newtown-sparks-calls-gun-reform\/<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This special report by the Pew Research Center&#8217;s Project for Excellence in Journalism on media reaction to the shootings in Newtown, Connecticut uses data derived from four different methodologies.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Data regarding the tone of conversation on social media (Twitter and blogs) were derived with a combination of PEJ\u2019s traditional media research methods, based on long-standing rules regarding content analysis, along with computer coding software developed by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.crimsonhexagon.com\/\">Crimson Hexagon<\/a>. That software is able to analyze the textual content from millions of posts on social media platforms. Crimson Hexagon (CH) classifies online content by identifying statistical patterns in words.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Data regarding the framing of coverage in the newspaper editorials and op-eds were derived from the PEJ\u2019s in-house coding operation.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Data about the guests on cable and network television news programs were compiled through the use of transcripts and recorded broadcasts of the relevant shows.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Finally, data on the views on YouTube were collected from that site\u2019s publicly accessible lists.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Coding of Social Media Using a Computer Algorithm<\/strong><\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For determining the tone of the conversation on social media, the study employed media research methods that combine PEJ&#8217;s content analysis rules developed over more than a decade with computer coding software developed by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.crimsonhexagon.com\/\">Crimson Hexagon<\/a>. This report is based on separate examinations of more than 11 million tweets and 45,000 blog posts.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Crimson Hexagon is a software platform that identifies statistical patterns in words used in online texts. Researchers enter key terms using Boolean search logic so the software can identify relevant material to analyze. PEJ draws its analysis samples from several million blogs, all public Twitter posts and a random sample of publicly available Facebook posts. Then a researcher trains the software to classify documents using examples from those collected posts. Finally, the software classifies the rest of the online content according to the patterns derived during the training.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to Crimson Hexagon: &#8220;Our technology analyzes the entire social internet (blog posts, forum messages, Tweets, etc.) by identifying statistical patterns in the words used to express opinions on different topics.&#8221; Information on the tool itself can be found at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.crimsonhexagon.com\/\">http:\/\/www.crimsonhexagon.com\/<\/a> and the in-depth methodologies can be found here <a href=\"http:\/\/www.crimsonhexagon.com\/products\/whitepapers\/\">http:\/\/www.crimsonhexagon.com\/products\/whitepapers\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Crimson Hexagon measures text in the aggregate and the unit of measure is the \u2018statement&#8217; or assessment, not the post or Tweet. One post or Tweet can contain more than one statement if multiple ideas are expressed. The results are determined as a percentage of the overall conversation.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The time frame for the analysis began at 10 am ET on December 14 and went through noon ET on December 17.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">PEJ used Boolean searches to narrow the universe to relevant posts. Common terminology posted by users varies for each platform. Therefore, PEJ used slightly different search filters for each.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For Blogs, PEJ used the following search filter:<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">(Newtown OR Newton OR Connecticut OR gun OR guns OR amendment OR Lanza OR \u201cmental health\u201d OR \u201csandy hook\u201d OR Obama)<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For Twitter, the search filter was:<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">(Newtown OR Newton OR CT OR Connecticut OR gun OR guns OR control OR amendment OR 2nd OR second OR shooting OR weapon OR Lanza OR mental OR health OR sandy OR hook OR Obama)<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Human Coding of Newspaper Editorials and Op-eds<\/strong><\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The list of eleven newspapers used in this sample included a variety of geographic locations, ownership groups and circulation sizes. The sample is the close to the same one used in <a href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/journalism\/news_index\">PEJ&#8217;s weekly News Coverage Index<\/a> (NCI), the <a href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/journalism\/about_news_index\/methodology\">methodology<\/a> of which explains the newspaper selection process.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The eleven papers used in this study were as follows:<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The New York Times\nLos Angeles Times\nUSA Today\nThe Wall Street Journal\nThe Washington Post\nThe Denver Post\nDallas Morning News\nOrlando Sentinel\nTraverse City Record-Eagle (MI)\nThe Daily Herald (WA)\nThe Eagle-Tribune (MA)<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">All editorials and op-eds from the print copies of these papers from December 15 to December 18 were examined. Hard copies of the papers were either delivered to the PEJ offices in Washington, D.C., or digital versions were acquired through the papers\u2019 websites or the web service <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pressdisplay.com\/pressdisplay\/viewer.aspx\">Pressdisplay<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Experienced human coders determined the frame and tone of each relevant article. PEJ has used similar variables in previous studies, and intercoder testing has revealed that such coding meets rigorous academic standards.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Data Regarding the Guests on Television News Shows<\/strong><\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">PEJ recorded the guests on television news shows on eight channels: ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS, Fox, Fox News, CNN and MSNBC.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">All guests who discussed an issue relevant to the Connecticut shootings were included in the tally. Regular contributors to the programs were excluded, as were people directly involved with the incident such as eye-witnesses and family members.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Broadcasts from noon ET on December 14 through 10 am ET on December 17 were included.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">PEJ was able to review recorded broadcasts or transcripts of most of the national news programming on each of the seven channels during that time.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For some channels, transcripts and digital recordings were not available and could not be included in our sample.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The programs and times examined were as follows:<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">Cable<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Friday, December 14<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Fox News\nDaytime shows from noon to 3:00 pm ET\nAll evening shows from 5:00 pm until 11 pm ET<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">MSNBC\nAll programming from noon to 11:00 pm ET<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">CNN\nAll programming from 10:30 am to 10:00 pm ET<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">Saturday, December 15<\/span><\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Fox News\nAmerica\u2019s News HQ\nFox &amp; Friends Weekend\nHuckabee\nGreta<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">MSNBC\nUp w\/ Chris Hayes\nElementary School Tragedy\nAndrew Mitchell Reports\nMelissa Harris-Perry<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">CNN\nAll programming from 7:00 am to 11:00 pm ET<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">Sunday, December 16<\/span><\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Fox News\nFox News Sunday<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">MSNBC\nThe Chris Matthews Show<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">CNN\nAll programming from 6:00 am to 11:00 pm ET<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">Monday, December 17<\/span><\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">CNN\nAll programming from 6:00 am to 9:00 am ET<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\"><strong>Network<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">Friday, December 14<\/span><\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">ABC\nWorld News Tonight\n20\/20 Special\nNightline<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">CBS\nCBS Evening News\nCBS News Special<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">NBC\nNBC Nightly News\nNBC Dateline Special<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">PBS\nPBS NewsHour<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">Saturday, December 15<\/span><\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">ABC\nGood Morning America\nWorld News Saturday<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">CBS\nCBS This Morning\nCBS Evening News\n48 Hours Special Edition<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">NBC\nToday Show\nNBC Nightly News<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">Sunday, December 16<\/span><\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">ABC\nGood Morning America\nThis Week with George Stephanopoulos\nWorld News Tonight<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">CBS\nFace the Nation\n60 Minutes<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">NBC\nToday Show\nThe Chris Matthews Show\nNBC Nightly News<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Fox\nFox News Sunday with Chris Wallace<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">Monday, December 17<\/span><\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">ABC\nGood Morning America<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">CBS\nCBS This Morning<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">NBC\nToday Show<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Data on YouTube Views<\/strong><\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On Wednesday, December 19, at 1:30 pm ET, a PEJ staff member captured the<a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/charts\/videos_views\/news?t=w\"> list of most viewed<\/a> news and politics videos on YouTube over the previous week. These videos are categorized as such on the YouTube site and are often a mix of mainstream news reports, raw footage relating to breaking events, or other types of public affairs clips. PEJ determined the most viewed videos as they are listed on YouTube\u2019s page at the time of capture.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/journalism\/2012\/12\/20\/social-media-and-opinion-pages-newtown-sparks-calls-gun-reform\/ This special report by the Pew Research Center&#8217;s Project for Excellence in Journalism on media reaction to the shootings in Newtown, Connecticut uses data derived from four different methodologies. Data regarding the tone of conversation on social media (Twitter and blogs) were derived with a combination of PEJ\u2019s traditional media research methods, based on 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