MEVIT4835 – Advanced quantitative analysis in media and communication research

Knowledge

Upon completion of the course, you will be able to:

• Understand and apply advanced scientific processes in the digital age and in the context of AI
• Understand thoroughly the concepts and techniques of digital humanities / computational social science
• Analyze academic problems on the basis of digital humanities / computational social science
• Understand basic concepts of Natural Language Processing in a humanities and social science context(e.g., Sentiment Analyses, LLM annotation)

Skills

Upon completion of the course, you will be able to:

• Use R for accessing, analysing and visualising data
• Collect, analyse and generate data using APIs, scraping, and techniques of descriptive and inferential statistics
• Combine and critically deal with "readymade data" and "custommade data"
• Carry out independently advanced statistical analyses to answer research questions and test hypotheses
• Present results from computational approaches and their validation in academic texts
• Critically reflect on AI-generated statistical analyses and interpretations

General competence

Upon completion of the course, you will be able to:

• Plan and conduct a digital humanities / computational social science project
• Critically evaluate and communicate validity (accuracy) and reliability (precision) of "readymade" and "custommade" data
• Evaluate the role (opportunities and risks) of digital humanities / computational social science approaches in the digital age of AI
• Analyze relevant academic, professional and research ethical problems in the context of digital humanities / computational social science
• Communicate about research questions, analyses and conclusions in the field of digital humanities / computational social science, both with specialists and the general public

Students who are admitted to study programmes at UiO must each semester register which courses and exams they wish to sign up for in Studentweb.

This course is for students admitted to Media and Communication Studies (master), Politisk kommunikasjon (master) and Screen Cultures (master). Students enrolled in other Master's Degree Programmes can, on application, be admitted to the course if this is cleared by their own study programme.

If you are not already enrolled as a student at UiO, please see our information about admission requirements and procedures.

Teaching is in the form of combined lectures and workshops. The course is organised in one 4-hour workshops (to learn of basics of R) and twelve two-hour sessions combining lectures and student activities.

Participation in the 4-hour workshop (course in R) is mandatory.

Students need to install R to their computers before the R course.

Students will need to engage with the AI tools recommended by UiO.

Students must submit and successfully pass 2 mandatory individual written assignments in order to complete the course.

The compulsory assignments will be assessed as approved/not approved. Approval of the assignment is a prerequisite for being allowed to take part in the examination (semester paper).

If you get ill or have other valid reasons for not being able to meet the deadline of the compulsory activity, you must apply for valid absence or postponed deadline.

Read more about compulsory activities at the Faculty of Humanities and find link to the application form.

Semester paper (semesteroppgave) of maximum 15 pages of 2300 characters without spaces.

The compulsory activities must be approved before the exam.

Frequently asked questions before and during exams at IMK