When communication research meets visual analytics: An integration of arts and sciences

Data visualization seminar series

When communication research meets visual analytics: An integration of arts and sciences

Dr. Winson Peng, Department of Communication, Michigan State University

Big data is “of the people, by the people, and for the people”. But data could not speak for itself.  The interdisciplinary collaboration between computer scientists and social scientists helps restore silent data into dynamic interaction between social topics. This talk will introduce two interdisciplinary studies (Xu et al., 2013; Sun et al., 2014) which aimed to examine how social issues compete and cooperate with one another for public attention on social media. Building upon classical agenda-setting theory in communication research, the two studies proposed two visual analytical systems that can facilitate panoramic and in-depth analysis of topic interaction on social media. Reflecting on this collaboration, I will discuss how social scientists and computer scientists can work together to create a 1+1>2 effect.