Defining Your Research Questions

1. Define the questions you would like to answer through your research

The first step is to define what you want to find out and why.

You may seek to answer such specific questions as:

• Which digital, data-driven campaigning methods and tools are being used by the political actors in question?
• Are legal regulations being fulfilled?
• Are rules/regulations being consistently applied across all digital campaigning tools used by the candidates?
• Are voters informed about the data-driven technologies and practices being used in campaigning?
• Is there any evidence of data-driven technology misuse by the actors in question?

Choosing a specific question may depend on recent events (e.g., scandals related to data use), address a specific gap in existing research, or focus on a newly emergent data-enabled technology used by political actors.

In Practice

This Colombian country study focused on how political candidates and campaigns used personal data in the 2018 elections shortly after the country passed regulations on the use and processing of personal data amidst the increased circulation of political content on digital platforms.

2. Select the subject(s) of your investigation

The question of which political actors you should focus on deserves special consideration.

It is useful to set clear criteria for selecting the subjects of your investigation. Of course, you may choose to look into all political candidates that have been allowed to participate in an election – but be aware that this strategy may require significant resources. In order to make your investigation more focused, you may look only at the main candidates, such as those that have crossed a particular threshold of public support or stand a significant chance of winning.

If you intend to monitor the use of personal data during elections, keep in mind that credible election observation efforts are guided by a set of internationally accepted principles, such as those outlined in the Declaration of Global Principles for Nonpartisan Election Observation and Monitoring by Citizen Organizations by the Global Network of Domestic Election Monitors.

Before moving on, think about which other actors are important to look at in your context.

• Are there private companies that are in the business of providing data-driven campaign technology to political actors?
• Are there non-governmental organisations or other influence groups that may play a role in a political campaign? If so, are there any indications of personal data sharing between them and candidates?
• Are there state bodies that have access to personal data that may be used in a political campaign or any indication of the abuse of state resources in an electoral context?
• Is there a "black market" for personal data? Have there been any illegal incidents in the past?

In Practice:

Lei Seca app, showing police’s sobriety checkpoints in the city of Rio de Janeiro., Source: Coding Rights 2018 Brazil Country Study

Read this Brazil country study for an overview of a thriving public and private data market by large data firms and how data is utilised in the digital campaigns..

3. Define the scope of your research

To help guide your scope, ask yourself: What makes this political moment significant enough to investigate?

It is important to define the scope of your research as precisely as possible, including:

• The particular time period you want to focus on. For instance, whether your investigation will only cover the official pre-election campaigning period or extend to after an election or between elections.
• The geographic scope of your investigation (e.g., national, regional or local)
• The depth of your investigation. For example, whether you want to examine as many digital campaigning tools used by the political contestants as possible (e.g., websites, social media accounts, mobile apps, chatbots, etc.) or only focus on a select few.

When defining scope, remember to also consider the resources that you have access to and would need to complete the work.

4. Understanding the context of your investigation

Developing a good understanding of the investigation context before beginning will help you determine where to focus resources as you conduct your research.

Specific aspects to examine ahead of time may include:

• Technology: Consider the state of technological developments in a particular place, including latest changes related to techniques, equipment, as well as the skills of users. For instance, it can be useful to know whether there is a personal data "market" in the political environment, e.g., whether data sets are sold to or purchased and used by political actors. Read Data as a Political Asset to learn more.
• Legal environment: Develop an understanding of the legal surroundings including regulations affecting technology. Consider looking at digital campaigning and data protection regulations, freedom or access to information legislation, and media laws to gain a relevant legal perspective. In addition, familiarise yourself with the main regulations that apply to political campaigning.
• Political context: If you decide to focus on the candidates, it is important to grasp the overall political context of the investigation. Some questions to help you define the political context include: What is the political culture in the place that you are investigating? What are the main political events that have shaped the current state of affairs? What are the current “hot” political topics of concern to society? Who are the main political actors and what do they stand to gain from the election in question?
• Campaign practices: It might also be useful to have an understanding of the most commonly used digital online campaign methods and tools – even if this is a topic that you will explore in your investigation. For examples of campaign technologies, see Technologies Used by the Influence Industry.

Ask yourself: What are the most important aspects of the context that I need to know in order to conduct my election investigation?

Hear for yourself:

Listen to this interview with Tetyana Bohdanova in which she describes the political and electoral context that led up to her 2019 report on the Ukrainian national elections.

You can also find the complete transcript and audio here or listen to the interview on PeerTube, Vimeo or YouTube.

5. Skills and knowledge you might need

Identify which skills and knowledge bases will be necessary to cover.

For instance, in order to research the way main election candidates use voter's personal data, one may need:

• Digital security expertise
• Political analysis skills
• The use of digital technologies in campaigns expertise
• Legal expertise
• Data analysis skills
• etc.

Consider what skills and knowledge are needed for this investigation to be successful. What do you and your team already posses? What will need to be sought externally?