Social intelligence for policy making

SOCIAL INTELLIGENCE FOR POLICY MAKING

Social listening tools allow a level of analysis that helps understand the broader context for a better policy

design and analysis of intervention.

By @Agora_Research

Why the focus on social media

Nowadays, one in four people worldwide uses social networks to discuss topics, raise concerns, create awareness. These channels, therefore, cannot be neglected when we design a social development policy.

The analysis of the conversations happening on the web helps policy designers and analysts understand the broader picture so to create stronger and more effective policies.

Who talks

• The Media• Employees• Funders• Volunteers• Government• End users• Pressure groups• Consultants• Researchers/academics

Where they talk

But also off line…

The social space Web-based research can be daunting due

to the volume of conversations, blog posts, tweets and

articles.

Social listening tools

Tools like Radian6, Social Radar, Visible etc. can help identify the most relevant conversations happening on the social sphere, the influencers that boost those conversations and the channels where they talk.

Query design

• Topic• Keywords combinations• Countries of interest• Languages of interest• Timeframe

Elements to consider when designing a query in a social listening tool

Focus: keywords

Words and phrases most relevant to the topic

Synonyms

Keywords variations

Combined in traditional Boolean language

Building the query We can obtain important insights even with the simplest queries.

More sophisticated queries can help your research if you are looking into a specific aspect of the topic analysed.

Example:

Analysing the education system in Ghana

Basic Query set up

Country: GhanaOfficial country language: English

Basic keywords combinations:

- Education system AND Ghana- Teaching AND Ghana education system- Schooling AND Ghana- Pupils AND Education in Ghana- Students in Ghana OR Ghanaian students- Education policy AND Ghana- Education challenges AND Ghana

Query results and metrics

Main metrics obtained:

o Channelso Conversations trendso Conversations

sentiment o Influencers

Most important: Conversations trends

The insights obtained from the social intelligence exercise will provide important elements for policy

formulation.

Compose the puzzle

Presented by Agora Research

If you have any questions with regard to this presentation, please contact Elena Mozzato, Director at Agora Research

elenamozzato@hotmail.com or @Agora_Research

May 2014