Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36466797›Full record

ArticleFrontiers in sociology2022

Big data and development sociology: An overview and application on governance and accountability through digitalization in Tanzania.

Nicole Schwitter, Alexia Pretari, William Marwa, Simone Lombardini, Ulf Liebe

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Frontiers in sociology, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Nicole SchwitterDepartment of Sociology, University of Warwick, Coventry, United Kingdom.
Alexia PretariOxfam GB, Oxford, United Kingdom.
William MarwaOxfam International, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Simone LombardiniOxfam GB, Oxford, United Kingdom.
Ulf LiebeDepartment of Sociology, University of Warwick, Coventry, United Kingdom.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The digital revolution and the widespread use of the internet have changed many realms of empirical social science research. In this paper, we discuss the use of big data in the context of development sociology and highlight its potential as a new source of data. We provide a brief overview of big data and development research, discuss different data types, and review example studies, before introducing our case study on active citizenship in Tanzania which expands on an Oxfam-led impact evaluation. The project aimed at improving community-driven governance and accountability through the use of digital technology. Twitter and other social media platforms were introduced to community animators as a tool to hold national and regional key stakeholders accountable. We retrieve the complete Twitter timelines up to October 2021 from all ~200 community animators and influencers involved in the project (over 1.5 million tweets). We find that animators have started to use Twitter as part of the project, but most have stopped tweeting in the long term. Employing a dynamic difference-in-differences design, we also do not find effects of Oxfam-led training workshops on different aspects of animators' tweeting behavior. While most animators have stopped using Twitter in the long run, a few have continued to use social media to raise local issues and to be part of conversations to this day. Our case study showcases how (big) social media data can be part of an intervention, and we end with recommendations on how to use digital data in development sociology.

Indexed as

accountabilitybig datadevelopment sociologydifference-in-differencedigital dataTanzaniaTwitter

Identifiers

PMID36466797
PMCPMC9712952

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.