Bournemouth University in the UK invites application for a PhD studentship in Fake news, culture and heuristics in 2020.
Project details
Misinformation in the form of fake news has become a characteristic of the 21st century, driven by technologies such as social media platforms that enable information to spread quickly and to be targeted at individual beliefs, biases and emotions. One factor that may be of importance is culture. Cultures vary on several dimensions, including individualism vs collectivism, power distance, masculinity vs femininity and uncertainty avoidance. It is reasonable to expect that different types of fake news would spread more easily in different cultures. Another possibly relevant factor is decision making heuristics. These refer to quick decisions that we make based on limited information. The use of heuristics may be in part determined in the cultural context in which the decision is being made, however there is a lack of research in this area.
The PhD would consist of several stages. The first would be an analysis of fake news stories on social media. Depending on the social media platform and the metadata available additional data will be collected, such as the age and gender of the social media users. Software will then be used to determine how different types of social media propagate through different cultures, and if this is associated with any particular user groups. The second stage will then use a combination of fake news stories identified in the first stage along several well-known fake news stories. The language and imagery used in these stories will be analysed in detail to determine if they differ between cultures, and if this is consistent with the characteristics of that culture and the associated heuristics.
This is a match-funded PhD studentship that is supported by the Army Research Office of the US Department of the Army.
Worth of Award
- This is a fully-funded PhD studentship which includes a stipend of £15,000 each year to support your living costs, as well as a fee waiver for 36 months.
- Associated costs, such as for fieldwork and conference attendance, will also be met under the Studentship.
Eligibility