Full project title: Seeing Migration Narratives: Enhancing Decision Making Through Visualisation of Policy Debates for Civil Society and the Media
Migration is one of the most talked-about issues in policy debates around the world. What is said about migrants and migration in media, social media and policy debates shape the way people vote, the policies people make and even how people interact with one another.
But what is said does not just come in the form of easily measurable data-points. It exists in much more complex forms: stories and narratives that we use to make sense of the world around us.
The array of media and social media information sources from which people receive these narrative “inputs” has expanded exponentially. For researchers and civil society, trying to grasp what people are being exposed to, what the underlying themes in the debate are, who pushes them and how they are disseminated is enormously challenging.
The Seeing Migration Narratives Project is a collaboration between the Oxford Internet Institute (OII) and the Centre on Migration, Policy and Society (COMPAS), both at the University of Oxford, with our nonprofit partner, IMIX. We aim to use novel computer science approaches to identify and measure migration narratives in media and social media and to create interactive data visualisations of migration narratives in the UK public debate—from media content, social media posts and policy materials.
With public funding from EPSRC, we are working to help non-expert audiences navigate the complexity of UK migration debates and understand how themes and narratives emerge and spread. We aim to allow the public to better scrutinise media and social media debates on migration. Our project supports more effective engagement and participation in these debates by civil society organisations who might not otherwise have the resources to undertake detailed analysis of media and policy debates and the drivers and dynamics of the content that comes to define our understanding of the complex phenomenon of international migration.
Associate Professor, Senior Research Fellow
Project role: Principal Investigator
Dr Scott A. Hale is an Associate Professor, Senior Research Fellow, and Turing Fellow. He develops and applies computer science techniques to the social sciences focusing on increasing equitable access to quality information.
Director of Graduate Studies, Departmental Research Lecturer
Project role: Co-Investigator
Adam Mahdi’s research focuses on digital health and application of machine learning in social sciences. He is the director of the UKRI-funded OxCOVID19 Project and a fellow at Wolfson College, University of Oxford.
DPhil Programme Director (SDS), Lecturer
Project role: Co-Investigator
Luc investigates privacy harms posed by large-scale collections of human data and deployed AI technologies, identifying gaps in how technology is regulated and risks are documented, and proposing better data sharing models for academic research.
Deputy Director and Head of Media, Migration Observatory
Project role: Co-Investigator
Rob McNeil is Deputy Director and Head of Media at the Migration Observatory, responsible for PR strategy, parliamentary and community outreach and the news and commentary work at the Observatory.
Director, Migration Observatory
Project role: Co-Investigator
Madeleine Sumption is the Director of the Migration Observatory. She is a policy specialist focusing on the impacts of migration policies and the role of migrants in the labour market.
Former MSc Student
Teodor is a data scientist at the World Data Lab, tracking UN SDGs, demography and consumer spending. With a BSc in Politics & IR from UCL, Teodor is passionate about leveraging data for social impact.
Former MSc Student
Salma is an MSc student in Social Data Science. She holds a BSc in Economics with a Data Science specialization from New York University. Prior to her postgraduate studies, she was an Associate at the Boston Consulting Group for two years.
