What Defines and Affects Replicability in Computational Communication Science? (RepCCS (MetaRep))

The project investigates the determinants and conditions for replicability in the field of Computational Communication Science (CCS). Ethical and legal questions regarding the (re-) use of data with regards to privacy or copyright issues, the control exerted by (commercial) third parties over data access, as well as technological challenges with reusing research materials, such as changes or deprecations of platforms, APIs, or other software complicate replications in CCS. These challenges are a consequence of a) the methods commonly used in the field (e.g., automated content analyses and observations), b) the volatility of its topics of study and the data it makes use of (e.g., news stories or social-media posts), and c) the increasing dependency on third-party data providers (e.g., search engines, social networking sites). Against this background, the project will (1) assess the potential replicability of research in CCS by means of a large-scale content analysis of publications in the field, and (2) test and evaluate the actual replicability of studies from this field by means of a reproduction and replication of purposively selected studies.