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Digital Media Analytics: Social Media Research Plans

Get to grips with social media analytics and prepare to launch your own social media analytics project.

5,799 enrolled on this course

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  • Duration

    2 weeks
  • Weekly study

    6 hours

Prepare to analyse social media

Analysing social media can be a complicated process. How do you plan your research? What methods can you use?

Get answers to these questions and more with this course. You will learn the basics of quantitive research to analyse social media. You will learn how to turn word-based questions into useful data. You will also explore how to turn hunches into testable propositions, concepts and variables.

What topics will you cover?

  • Building a research plan to analyse social media behavior.
  • Understanding the market research process.
  • The steps of market research.
  • Developing descriptive research methods.
  • Writing and delivering great marketing research reports.
  • Analysing social media data.
  • Getting familiar with Excel sheets and formulas.
  • Interpreting social media data.
  • Advanced quantitative tests.
  • Statistical functions.

Learning on this course

On every step of the course you can meet other learners, share your ideas and join in with active discussions in the comments.

What will you achieve?

By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to...

  • Produce a social media research plan
  • Identify methods for collecting and analysing Twitter data
  • Compare, contrast and relate variables to form predictive models
  • Apply the basic rules of social media analysis
  • Produce quantifiable data from social media

Who is the course for?

This course is for professionals looking to advance their careers and learn more about social media and digital media analytics.

What software or tools do you need?

There is no special prior experience or knowledge required to participate. To make the most of this course, you will need to: ensure you have access to Excel and that you have a Twitter account; install or access TAGS- (https://tags.hawksey.info/get-tags/); use a laptop or desktop computer. You will also need to know some technology and statistics.

Who will you learn with?

I am a Ph.D. candidate in the Brian Lamb School of Communication at Purdue University. My research interests include pedagogy and social media interaction.

Dr. Matei is the College of Liberal Arts Associate Dean of Research and Professor of Communication in the Brian Lamb School of Communication at Purdue University.

Who developed the course?

Purdue University

One of the four best public universities in the US, Purdue delivers an engaging learning experience and a world-class degree.

Learning on FutureLearn

Your learning, your rules

  • Courses are split into weeks, activities, and steps to help you keep track of your learning
  • Learn through a mix of bite-sized videos, long- and short-form articles, audio, and practical activities
  • Stay motivated by using the Progress page to keep track of your step completion and assessment scores

Join a global classroom

  • Experience the power of social learning, and get inspired by an international network of learners
  • Share ideas with your peers and course educators on every step of the course
  • Join the conversation by reading, @ing, liking, bookmarking, and replying to comments from others

Map your progress

  • As you work through the course, use notifications and the Progress page to guide your learning
  • Whenever you’re ready, mark each step as complete, you’re in control
  • Complete 90% of course steps and all of the assessments to earn your certificate

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