Professor Luke Sloan

Publication

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Research

Summary

I am Deputy Director of the Social Data Science Lab. My principle research interests are understanding representation on Twitter and augmenting social media data through data linkage. I have worked on a range of projects investigating the use of Twitter data for understanding social phenomena covering topics such as election prediction, tracking (mis)information propagation during food scares and ‘crime-sensing’. My published work focuses on the development of demographic proxies for Twitter data to further understand who uses the platform and increase the utility of such data for the social sciences. I sit as an expert member on the Social Media Analytics Review and Information Group (SMARIG) which brings together academics and government agencies and work closely with the Office for National Statistics and Food Standards Agency. I am currently involved in three large UK-based social survey studies that are exploring potential linkage between Twitter and survey data – British Social Attitudes 2015, the Welsh Election Study 2016 and the Understanding Society Innovation Panel 2017.

Research Grants (awarded)

• Understanding [Online/Offline] Society: Linking Surveys with Twitter Data, ESRC (Principle Investigator, £906,021), ES/S015175/1*
• Hate Crime After Brexit: Linking Terrestrial and New Forms of Data to Inform Governance, ESRC (Co-Investigator, £249,995), ES/S006168/1
• Social Data Science Lab: Methods and Infrastructure Development for Open Data Analytics in Social Research 2017-2020, ESRC (Co-Investigator, £705,050) ES/P008755/1
• Welsh Election Study 2016, ESRC (Co-Investigator, £226k) ES/M011127/1
• Public perceptions of the UK food system: public understanding and engagement, and the impact of crises and scares 2014, ESRC/FSA (Co-Investigator, £291,200), ES/M003329/1
• NCRM Methodological Innovation Project 2013 (Co-Investigator, approx. £180k): COSMOS 2.0 Social Media Data Mashing, Tension Analysis and Predictive Analytics
• Nuffield Children, Young People and Families using Social Work Service in Four UK Cohort Studies 2013(Co-Investigator, approx. £150k): a project investigating social worker contact with respondent the Millennium Cohort Study, ALPAC, BHPS and LSYPE
• European Social Fund (ESF) Women Adding Value to the Economy 2012 – WAVE (Co-Investigator, approx. £1m): A project investigating the gender pay gap in Wales, particular responsibility for quantitative strand involving supervision of a research associate

*Understanding [Online/Offline] Society: Linking Surveys with Twitter Data (ES/S015175/1)

Understanding behaviours, attitudes and identities in online space is a key challenge for 21st Century Social Science. The opportunities provided by social media platforms such as Twitter are significant, with between 300 and 500 million tweets generated a day representing interactions, networks, opinions and reactions at a highly granular temporal (and sometimes spatial) level. On average 4,500 tweets are authored every second and this velocity of data offers us a real-time insight into the social world. However, the fly in the ointment for researchers is that we have a limited understanding of who (or what in the case of 'bots') is present in the online space and to what extent the online representation of social actors can be taken to represent the social world. The fundamental concerns of what can be known and how we can know it need to be addressed before social science can embrace, albeit with a healthy dose of caution, Twitter as a source of knowledge on the social world.

In light of this, this project sets out to establish what insights Twitter can offer us into social phenomenon through the linkage of the content and metadata of tweets with survey data from three major UK surveys - British Social Attitudes 2015, Understanding Society Innovation Panel 2017 and the NatCen Panel. In essence, this project is an exercise in method, calibration and verification, through taking what we know about a respondent and exploring to what extent a given known characteristic may manifest (or not) in the online setting, and vice versa. There is clear methodological value in this - gaining consent to link additional sources of data to survey responses is increasingly used to enhance the value of survey data, validate survey measures, and address issues with nonresponse. However, most previous research on consent has focused on administrative records, and understanding consent relating to other new forms of data is needed.

With novel methods there are limitations to working theoretically - unpredicted limitations may become apparent, and the value of the design not be evident without a real research context. We therefore propose further data collection as part of substantive case study concerning attitudes and behaviours toward ethnic minorities that will aim to uncover 'hidden' challenges and demonstrate how this methodology can be employed, as well as contributing to the substantive literature. To maximise the value of the research for the wider academic community, this work will in turn inform a work package focusing solely on archiving, sharing and re-use of the linked dataset and/or a derivative of it. Whilst Twitter is only one of many social media platforms, it is the most open and accessible and provides a proving ground on which issues of consent, linkage, archiving and sharing can be tested and evaluated. We anticipate that many of the lessons and protocols developed as part of this research will be operationally applicable to other social media platforms.

In summary, the research project seeks to answer the following research questions:

RQ1) How can Twitter data be used to enhance survey data?

RQ2) How can survey data be used to evaluate existing demographic proxy measures and develop new ones?

RQ3) How can we encourage informed consent to social media data linkage?

RQ4) Demonstrator Study: How can linked data (direct reported and observed indirect) help us to understand public attitudes towards minority ethnic groups?

RQ5) How can social media data be collected, linked to survey data, analysed, archived, and shared in a legal and ethical manner that maintains utility?

You can find out more about this project here: https://natcen.ac.uk/linking-survey-and-digital-trace-data

Teaching

Summary

I had two key roles in the University that are directly related to teaching and learning.

As Director of Learning and Teaching I oversaw all educational provision in the School across our undergraduate and postgraduate programmes, including during the pandemic.

As Co-Director of the Cardiff Q-Step Centre of Excellence in Quantitative Methods Teaching (and Teaching Group Coordinator) I was responsible for overseeing the successful implementation and quality control of all our new programme content on BSc Social Analytics. The Q-Step Centre award was given after an international peer-review process and we are 6 years into the project.

Teaching/Scholarship Grants (awarded)

• Q-STEP Transition Funding, funded by the Nuffield Foundation (Director, approx £120k)
• Q-STEP Centre for Excellence in Quantitative Methods Teaching, funded by the Nuffield Foundation, HEFCE and ESRC (Co-Director, approx. £1.3m)
• Changing the Learning Landscape, A national Student-Led Survey: creating a cross-institutional survey project through student collected data for better quantitative methods teaching 2013, HEA (Principle Investigator, £750)
• Innovation in the Assessment of Social Science Research Methods in UK HEIs 2013, HEA (Principle Investigator, £7,900).
• ESRC Research Development Initiative 2011 (Co-Investigator, approx £90K): a project to develop an international pedagogic network in which good practice can be shared in teaching quantitative methods (QM), ES/J011851/1
• ESRC Curriculum Innovation 2011 (Co-Investigator, approx £90k): a project to develop new modules in the social science curriculum in which quantitative methods are embedded, ES/J011843/1

Biography

Education & Qualifications

• 2007-2010: PhD (Political Science) University of Plymouth, UK*
• 2006-2007: MSc (Social Research) University of Plymouth, UK*
• 2003-2006: BSc Hons (Politics) University of Plymouth, UK

* awarded a 1+3 ESRC Studentship with the Elections Centre, University of Plymouth

Career Overview

• Aug 2020 - present: Professor, School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University, UK
• Nov 2017 - Jul 2020: Reader, School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University, UK
• Apr 2014 - Oct 2017: Senior Lecturer, School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University, UK
• Jan 2011 - Mar 2014: Lecturer, School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University, UK
• Oct 2010 - Dec 2010: Research Fellow in Leadership & Governance, Plymouth Business School, University of Plymouth, UK

I led an institution-wide programme of work from 2021 focused on enhancing the Student Voice. After a year of working in this area I demonstrated both my strategic impact and the institutional potential for shifting the dial on student voice, and accordingly I took on the formal role of Academic Partner for Student Voice and Partnership (Sept 2022 to July 2024), line managed by the Pro-Vice Chancellor for Education and Student Experience. As a senior leader with strategic oversight I led on the successful redesign and implementation of a new institution wide Module Enhancement Policy, a new system for conducting end of module surveys, a successful business case to establish a new team of 10+ individuals to radically overhaul how we do Student Voice at Cardiff, and a new approach to working in partnership with the Student Union. 

During my time working in this area my strategic leadership had a clear and significant impact evidenced through the NSS metrics on Student Voice, with a sustained improvement in positivity scores over time from 62.02 (2022), to 67.33 (2023), and 72.7 (2024). This final positivity score moved Cardiff from 16th to 6th place in the Russell Group for Student Voice and 0.5% above benchmark.

I was Director of Learning and Teaching for the School of Social Sciences Sept 2020 - Sept 2022. As Director of Learning and Teaching I sat on the School of Social Sciences Senior Management Team and had responsibility for all undergraduate and postgraduate educational provision. I was also responsible for ensuring educational continuity and an excellent student experience during the pandemic.

I believe in research-informed teaching, so through my previous role as Co-Director of the Cardiff Q-Step Centre of Excellence in Quantitative Methods Teaching I led the development of a new degree programme (BSc Social Analytics - UCAS code J3G5) in collaboration with external agencies such as the Office for National Statistics to give graduates the skills they need to thrive in a data-centric world.

Honours and awards

• Awarded the Dillwyn Medal for Social Sciences, Economics and Business 2019 by the Learned Society of Wales
• Winner of the "Most Effective Teacher Award" at the Cardiff University Enriching Student Life Awards for innovation in research methods teaching in 2013
• "Knowing the Tweeters" shortlisted for Sociological Research Online Best Paper Award in 2013

Professional memberships

• Fellow of the Higher Education Academy

Committees and reviewing

Internal Committees/Groups

• Co-Chair of the Student Voice & Partnership Committee
• Chair of School of Social Sciences Admissions and Recruitment Committee
• Member of School of Social Sciences Senior Management Team
• Member of University First Choice Recruitment and Conversion Project Board
• Member of School of Social Sciences Teaching and Learning Committee
• Member of AHSS College Admissions and Recruitment Group
• Member of University Student Survey Group
• Member of the steering group for a medium/large project funded under the Cardiff University Education Innovation Fund (“Grand Challenges through Project Based Learning”)

External Committees/Groups

• Member of the Cathy Marsh Institue for Social Research Advisory Board (University of Manchester)
• Member of the HEFCE Postgraduate Information Steering Group (PISG)
• Grant reviewer for ESRC, Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), European Research Council (ERC)
• Expert member of the Social Media Analytics Review and Innovation Group (SMARIG), set up to provide strategic guidance to government departments and agencies on how social media data can be used for social research

Supervisions

Current supervision

Jodie Luker

Research student