IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/socsci/v99y2018i2p829-845.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Using Internet Search Data to Measure Changes in Social Perceptions: A Methodology and an Application

Author

Listed:
  • Tomas Reyes
  • Nicolás Majluf
  • Ricardo Ibáñez

Abstract

Objectives Social perceptions in areas such as family life, economy, education, health, and energy can be uncertain and difficult to measure. This article proposes a well†defined methodology to measure social perceptions by observing individuals’ Google searches for online content with the support of three free tools: Google Trends, Keyword Planner, and Related Searches. Methods The proposed methodology is a step†by†step process that identifies representative keywords for prevailing social perceptions, and then aggregates them into specialized descriptive indexes, which are designed to highlight changes in search trends over time. Results To exemplify the process, the methodology is applied to measure changes in economic and social perceptions in Chile during 2004–2014. Results show that, over these years, Chileans moved from a pro†business view to a largely anti†business perspective based on issues such as lucre, inequality, and abuses. Conclusions The methodology works well, as we are able to identify in two complementary ways the moment at which Chilean citizens moved from one perspective to another. The application of this methodology to Mexico, Peru, and Colombia also provided satisfactory results.

Suggested Citation

  • Tomas Reyes & Nicolás Majluf & Ricardo Ibáñez, 2018. "Using Internet Search Data to Measure Changes in Social Perceptions: A Methodology and an Application," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 99(2), pages 829-845, June.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:socsci:v:99:y:2018:i:2:p:829-845
    DOI: 10.1111/ssqu.12449
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/ssqu.12449
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/ssqu.12449?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Reyes, Tomas & Batista, Julian A. & Chacon, Alvaro & Martinez, Diego & Kausel, Edgar E., 2023. "Attention-driven reaction to extreme earnings surprises," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 230-248.
    2. Kelsey E. Gonzalez & Rina James & Eric T. Bjorklund & Terrence D. Hill, 2021. "Conservatism and infrequent mask usage: A study of US counties during the novel coronavirus (COVID‐19) pandemic," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 102(5), pages 2368-2382, September.
    3. Reyes, Tomas, 2018. "Limited attention and M&A announcements," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 201-222.
    4. Robert Urbatsch, 2020. "Trade connections’ effect on European regions’ interest in Brexit," European Union Politics, , vol. 21(1), pages 173-179, March.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:socsci:v:99:y:2018:i:2:p:829-845. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0038-4941 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.