FactSpace West Africa, Accra 15.02.2024
Staff of FactSpace West Africa have been trained on the use of Brandwatch, a social media analytics (SMA) tool, that helps tackle mis- and disinformation in topical online conversations.
The training spanned a number of areas including research methodology, Brandwatch queries, Boolean operators as well as Brandwatch dashboard components for conducting research.
Yossabel Chetty of the Centre for Analytics and Behavioural Change (CABC) urged participants to embrace critical thinking and deliberation skills, which are key to researching misinformation and disinformation.
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The team also got insights into how understanding a subject matter allowed for appreciation of commonly used mis-or disinformation tactics.
Yossabel noted that to carry out quality research, it is essential to have a sound understanding of the current state of knowledge on the topic.
The FactSpace team was introduced to using two frameworks for constructing research questions – PICOT and PEO.
The PICOT framework looks at the Population or problem, Intervention or Indicator being studied, Comparison group, Outcome of interest, and Time frame of the study.
Whereas the PEO framework considers the Population being studied, Exposure to preexisting conditions, and Outcome of interest.
PICOT is a quantitative research framework while PEO is qualitative research based.
Jesse Cann of the CABC took participants through the use of the Brandwatch tool to find interesting analytics on past and present happenings on social media. He emphasized the importance of having the right queries generated from intense research and navigating to the Brandwatch dashboard.
Several dashboards were available for viewing and analysis by participants. Some of the dashboard tabs that popped up after inputting queries include total mentions, summary, demographics, mention volumes, word clouds, and top authors, among others.
The training is to help participants write analysis stories on topical issues using information and insights gathered from social media.
See some pictures from the training below:
By Julius Kofi Satsi
