Analyzing donations of digital trace data: Starting with your own search behavior

Researchers who collect digital trace data often rely on APIs that can change at the whim of the platforms that create them. While personal data downloads require more effort to collect, they are mandated by European regulation and thus less likely to be discontinued. This workshop will teach researchers how to work with research participants to collect and analyze the individual digital trace data that people can potentially donate for research purposes, including search queries, web browsing history, social media activity, and even screenshots. While these data are typically incorporated into quantitative projects, we will also discuss how qualitative researchers can incorporate these traces into their projects as well.

In the workshop, participants will understand how to apply the ethical principles of data minimization and informed consent to data donation research. Participants will also learn about different sampling strategies and have the opportunity to download and analyze their own Google search traces. Another goal of the workshop is to identify key quantitative and qualitative analytical approaches for working with digital trace data. These approaches include network analysis, Markov chains, and multi-level modeling for quantitative analysis, and data-prompted interviews or observation for qualitative analysis.

Finally, the workshop will cover the process of creating, cleaning, and summarizing variables from donated digital trace data. As an example project, participants will have the opportunity to explore how their search query topics change over time using either their own data from Google or an example dataset. Overall, this workshop will provide participants with the skills and knowledge necessary to effectively collect, analyze, and make sense of digital trace data for research purposes, while also considering ethical considerations and appropriate analytical approaches.