The digital economy, big data and social media: implications for the practice of management research

NEMODE PDWBAM Conference 9-11 September, 2014

Dr Richard Adams, University of ExeterDr Mark Coté, Kings College London

Dr. Albrecht Fritzsche, University of Erlangen-NurembergDr Juan Mateos-Garcia, NESTA

Dr Tobias Preis, Warwick Business SchoolDr Helene Snee, Manchester Metropolitan University

Some challenges of big data and social media data for management research

• Volume, variety, velocity (veracity)– A whole new mode of engagement with data?

• Limitations of working with big data/social media data– Is big data universal data?

• Research ethics– Do we need to reconsider our approach?

• Researcher skills profile– Who needs help implementing a computational approach to their research?

• Theory versus data mining– What is the role of theory in the big data/social media data context?

• Presentation of findings– What is the life expectancy for the dominant dissemination paradigm?

Discussion topics• Scholars may require a variety of different types of support in

order to meaningfully integrate new practices into their research: what would be appropriate?– conceptual help in understanding how digital research activities and

methodologies can be thoughtfully integrated into your research– technical support for implementing digital research activities and

methodologies• (How) can big data/social media data be used as a resource for

social scientists?• What can be the unique contribution of social scientists in an era

of big data and social media data?• How do social scientists react to the mass of social data being

generated, gathered and used by others?