Project description
How social networks shape science, policy and politics
Social networks play a crucial role in shaping behaviour across various fields, but their influence is often underexplored. To fill this gap, the ERC-funded CHAIN project will conduct three interconnected studies. First, it investigates how social media networks shape scientific output and collaboration, analysing economists’ activity on the social networking service X , formerly known as Twitter. Second, it provides groundbreaking insights into the influence of congressional staffers on policymaking in the United States by examining their educational ties and networks. Lastly, the project explores the political effects of social media in India, specifically focusing on WhatsApp’s sharing limits and their impact on elections and conflict. The findings of these studies will offer a comprehensive look at how networks affect scientists, politicians and citizens.
Objective
This proposal consists of three interconnected projects that study how social networks shape the behavior of 1) scientists, 2) politicians, and 3) citizens by using the structure of networks for identification.
The first project investigates how social media networks shape knowledge production in academia. Through a comprehensive dataset of economists and their Twitter activity, the project provides insights into the information acquisition process of scientists and how scientists’ networks impact the direction of science. The project will examine the causal effect of social media usage on research output, collaboration, citation patterns, and careers. Moreover, the project will highlight inefficiencies in the scientific process that arise through scientific fads and herd behavior.
The second project will generate some of the first large-scale empirical analyses of the role of congressional staffers in the policy-making process. Based on comprehensive data on congressional staffers, their networks, and the activities of congress members, the project will generate pathbreaking insights into the impact of staffers on congressional voting behavior as well as policy priorities. The project will isolate the effect of staffers using a network-based identification strategy that leverages the educational ties of staffers. In this way, the research project will break new ground in the field of political economy by opening the black box of the policy-making process.
The third project focuses on the political effects of social media and the effectiveness of algorithmic interventions by investigating the impact of sharing limits on the social media platform WhatsApp. The project will analyze how this change to information flows on a network affects conflict events, believes, and election results in the world's largest democracy: India. The research project thereby addresses a gap in the field of social media research by shedding light on an often-proposed policy intervention
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- social sciences political sciences political transitions elections
- social sciences political sciences government systems democracy
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2024-STG
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
20136 Milano
Italy
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.