Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

How do social scientists use link data from search engines to understand Internet-based political and electoral communication?

  • Research Note
  • Published:
Quality & Quantity Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

As link data become more available from search engines, the data can play an important role in understanding socio-political activities in cyberspace. However, the majority of social scientists have not engaged in link data collection, transformation, and analysis to perform research using publicly available search engines. This article offers two case studies of Internet-based political and electoral communications conducted in Korea, where online communication is among the most well-established in the world. These cases reveal that link data collected from search engines have several merits for political communication research, including inexpensive access to web resources and ease of use. However, link data have some weakness, such as reliability issues: internal algorithms are not made in public and there are inconsistencies among search engines. This article examines the two case studies to draw conclusions about the use of link data drawn from search engines for research purposes.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ackland, R., Fry, J., Schroeder, R.: Scoping the online visibility of e-research by means of e-research tools. In: Proceedings from the Third International Conference on e-Social Science, 7–9 Oct 2007, Ann Arbor, MI. http://www.ncess.ac.uk/events/conference/2007/ (2007). Accessed 3 Jan 2008

  • Baeza-Yates, R., Lalanne, F.: Characterization of the Korean Web. Korean-Spanish Information Retrieval Project. Chile–Korea IT Cooperation Center, University of Chile. http://quintay.dcc.uchile.cl/korea/korea.pdf (2004). Accessed 30 Apr 2009

  • Bar-Ilan J., Peritz B.C.: The lifespan of “informetrics” on the Web: an eight year study (1998–2006). Scientometrics 79(1), 7–25 (2009)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barnett G.A., Park H.W.: The structure of international Internet hyperlinks and bilateral bandwidth. Ann. Telecommun. 60(9–10), 1115–1132 (2005)

    Google Scholar 

  • Borgatti S.P., Everett M.G., Freeman L.C.: UCINET for Windows: Software for Social Network Analysis. Analytic Technologies, Harvard (2002)

    Google Scholar 

  • Borgatti S.P., Mehra A., Brass D.J., Labianca G.: Network analysis in the social sciences. Science 323, 892–895 (2009)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Caldas, A., Schroeder, R., Mesch, G., Dutton, W.: Patterns of information search and access on the World Wide Web: democratizing expertise or creating new hierarchies? J. Comput. Mediat. Commun. 13, 769–793 (2008). http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/fulltext/121394413/PDFSTART. Accessed 30 Apr 2009

  • Chang, Y.-K.: Search engine impacts on research. In: Proceedings from the ASEF Workshop Gatekeepers in a Digital Asian–European Media Landscape: The Rising Structural Power of Internet Search Engines, Singapore, 28 Feb–1 Mar (2008)

  • Cugelman, B., Thelwall, M., Dawes, P.: The dimensions of website credibility and their relation to active trust and behaviour impact. Commun. Assoc. Inform. Syst. 22, Article 15, 1–16 (2008)

    Google Scholar 

  • Elgesem D.: Search engines and the public use of reason. Ethics Inform. Technol. 10, 233–242 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Escher, T., Margetts, H., Petricek, V., Cox, I.: Governing from the centre? Comparing the nodality of digital governments. In: Proceedings from the 2006 Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association. http://www.governmentontheweb.org/downloads/papers/Margetts_et_al_APSA_2006.pdf (2006). Accessed 30 Apr 2009

  • Gruzd, A.: Automated discovery of social networks in text-based online communities. In: Proceedings from the GROUP’09 Conference, 10–13 May 2009, Sanibel Island, FL. ACM 978-1-60558-500-0/09/05 (2009)

  • Halavais A.: Search Engine Society. Wiley, Hoboken (2008)

    Google Scholar 

  • Han, K., Lee, S.H., Lee, S.: Graph structure of the Korea Web. In: Kotagiri, R. et al. (eds.) DASFAA, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol. 4443, pp. 930–935 (2007)

  • Hindman M.: The Myth of Digital Democracy. Princeton University Press, Princeton (2008)

    Google Scholar 

  • Horgan B.: Analysing Social Networks via the Internet. In: Fielding, N., Lee, R.M., Blank, G. (eds) The SAGE Handbook of Online Research Methods, Chap. 8, pp. 141–160. Sage Publications, London (2008)

    Google Scholar 

  • Kamada T., Kawai S.: An algorithm for drawing general undirected graphs. Inform. Process. Lett. 31(1), 7–15 (1989)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kuhn T.S.: The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. Chicago University Press, Chicago (1970)

    Google Scholar 

  • Kuo, E. C. Y.: “The World Wide Web of Babel: some observations on language diversity and the Internet.” Presentation to the ASEF workshop Gatekeepers in a Digital Asian-European Media Landscape: The Rising Structural Power of Internet Search Engines, Singapore, 28 Feb–1 Mar (2008)

  • Lawrence S., Giles C.L.: Searching the World Wide Web. Science 280(5360), 98–100 (1998)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lee, Y.-O., Park, H.W.: The reconfiguration of E-campaign practices in Korea: a case study of the presidential primaries of 2007. Int. Soc. 25(1), 29–53 (2010)

    Google Scholar 

  • Leydesdorff, L., Curran, M.: Mapping university–industry–government relations on the Internet: the construction of indicators for a knowledge-based economy. Cybermetrics 4 (2000). http://www.cindoc.csic.es/cybermetrics/articles/v4i1p2.html. Accessed 3 Jan 2003

  • Lusher, D., Ackland, R.: A relational hyperlink analysis of an online social movement: asylum seeker advocacy groups in Australia. http://voson.anu.edu.au/papers/Lusher+Ackland_RHA_2008.pdf (2009). Accessed 30 Apr 2009

  • Margetts, H.: A discussion in response to M. Hindman’s presentation titled “The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same: Online Audiences and the Paradox of Web Traffic.” http://webcast.oii.ox.ac.uk/?view=Webcast&ID=20090306_271 (2009). Video Accessed 30 Apr 2009

  • Meyer E.T., Schroeder R.: Untangling the web of e-Research: towards a sociology of online knowledge. J.~Informetr. 3(3), 246–260 (2009)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • National Internet Development Agency: Growth of Digital Information per Year, Internet Statistics. NIDA, Seoul (2009)

  • Nentwich M.: Cyberscience: Research in the Age of the Internet. Austrian Academy of Sciences Press, Vienna (2003)

    Google Scholar 

  • Opsahl T., Colizza V., Panzarasa P., Ramasco J.J.: Prominence and control: the weighted rich-club effect. Phys. Rev. Lett. 101(16), 168702–168705 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Park, H.W.: Hyperlink network analysis: a new method for the study of social structure on the web. Connections 25(1), 49–61 (2003). http://www.insna.org/Connections-Web/Volume25-1/7.Hyperlink.pdf. Accessed 30 Apr 2009

  • Park H.W., Leydesdorff L.: Knowledge linkage structures in communication studies using citation analysis among communication journals. Scientometrics 81(1), 157–175 (2009)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Park H.W., Kluver R.: Trends in online networking among South Korean politicians. Government Inform. Quart. 26(3), 505–515 (2009)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Park H.W., Thelwall M.: Link analysis: hyperlink patterns and social structure on politicians’ web sites in South Korea. Qual. Quant. 42(5), 687–697 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rogers R., Ben-David A.: The Palestinian–Israeli peace process and trans-national issue networks: the complicated place of the Israeli NGO. New Media Soc. 10(1), 41–72 (2008)

    Google Scholar 

  • Schroeder R.: e-Science as research technologies: reconfiguring disciplines, globalizing knowledge. Soc. Sci. Inform. 47(2), 131–157 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Soon C., Kluver R.: The Internet and online political communities in Singapore. Asian J. Commun. 17(3), 246–265 (2007)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Soulskill: Bush administration’s e-mail deluge may overload archive system. http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/11/22/1312245 (2008, Nov 22). Accessed 30 Apr 2009

  • Stewart K.J.: How hypertext links influence consumer perceptions to build and degrade trust online. J. Manag. Inform. Syst. 23(1), 183–210 (2006)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thelwall, M.: Digital libraries and multi-disciplinary research skills. LIBRES, 14(2) (2004). http://libres.curtin.edu.au/libres14n2/index.htm. Accessed 30 April 2009

  • Thelwall M.: Extracting accurate and complete results from search engines: case study Windows Live. J. Am. Soc. Inform. Sci. Technol. 59(1), 38–50 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thelwall M.: Introduction to Webometrics. Morgan & Claypool, New York (2009)

    Google Scholar 

  • Vanden Bos M.: Hyperlinked Dutch–Iranian cyberspace. Int. Soc. 21(1), 83–99 (2006)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Varian, H., Choi, H.: Predicting the present with Google Trends. Unpublished manuscript. http://google.com/googleblogs/pdfs/google_predicting_the_present.pdf (2009). Accessed 30 Apr 2009

  • Wasserman, S., Faust, K.: Social network analysis: methods and applications. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, NY (1994)

  • Williamson A.: MPs Online: Connecting with Constituents. Hansard Society, London (2009)

    Google Scholar 

  • Wouters, P.F., Gerber, D.: Interactive Internet? Studying mediated interaction with publicly available search engines. J. Comput. Mediat. Commun. 8(4) (2003). http://www.ascusc.org/jcmc/vol8/issue4/wouters.html. Accessed 30 Apr 2009

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Media & Communication, YeungNam University, Daegu, South Korea

    Han Woo Park

Authors
  1. Han Woo Park
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Han Woo Park.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Park, H.W. How do social scientists use link data from search engines to understand Internet-based political and electoral communication?. Qual Quant 46, 679–693 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11135-010-9421-x

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11135-010-9421-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation