5: Methods

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The research findings presented in Part Two of this report are based on qualitative data collected from a random sample of students (N = 103) and faculty (N = 37) at eight U.S. colleges and universities during Fall 2019. Prior to any data collection for this study, a research protocol was submitted and approved to the Institutional Review Board (IRB) at the Harvard University, where the study was based and at several schools requiring their own IRBs.

Those who voluntarily participated in this study were asked questions in three areas: (1) their awareness and experiences with influential online platforms that use algorithms to shape the flow of information, (2) their perspectives on how information quality may be affected by algorithms, and how they think their own realities and abilities to distinguish truth from falsehoods is affected, and (3) whether and to what extent the impact of algorithms on society was discussed in class.

A script with the five open-ended questions was developed for use with students and faculty.¹³⁰ Demographic data about each of the two sample groups were collected as part of the participation. In both sessions, algorithms were defined as “lines of coding you don’t see that are intentionally used by many online platforms to personalize content to match users likes and dislikes.” News was defined as “information about events happening all around the world.”

Contributors and Attributions

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