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Geo-Media and Neighbourhood Effects’ Studies: A New Frontier

Received: 20 February 2023     Accepted: 13 March 2023     Published: 28 March 2023
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Abstract

In the era of data revolution, new types of data and data sources allow researchers to find innovative ways to study society and its dynamics. The concept of neighbourhood effects (NE) was born within the sociological debate on the relationship between territory and social phenomena inaugurated by Durkheim and continued by other authors from many disciplines. NE is a particular concept that is borne more by empirical evidence than theory. This aspect is quite problematic because it is easy to find studies that investigate how spatial characteristics influence social phenomena; however, there is no agreement on the ways in which spatial influence manifests itself or on which spatial elements have a sociological bearing. Initially absent in Internet studies, NE have been progressively investigated owing to the geo-media. Crowdsourced Geographic Information has made it possible to jointly analyze two dimensions previously considered incompatible, such as the online and offline worlds. The purpose of this study is twofold. The first objective is to analyze how the discourse on NE is evolving in digital studies that use crowdsourced Geographic Information. The second objective is to identify the critical elements of this approach. In particular, we will try to give the reader the answer to the following questions: What kind of geo-media has been used? Which topics do NE research focus on? What are the hypothesized mechanisms that link space and social phenomena? What are the most frequently used approaches for this purpose? A systematic literature review was used to answer these questions.

Published in Social Sciences (Volume 12, Issue 2)
DOI 10.11648/j.ss.20231202.13
Page(s) 64-75
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Neighbourhood Effects, Crowdsourced Geographic Information, Social Media, Ecological Analysis, Literature Review

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    Ciro Clemente De Falco. (2023). Geo-Media and Neighbourhood Effects’ Studies: A New Frontier. Social Sciences, 12(2), 64-75. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ss.20231202.13

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    Ciro Clemente De Falco. Geo-Media and Neighbourhood Effects’ Studies: A New Frontier. Soc. Sci. 2023, 12(2), 64-75. doi: 10.11648/j.ss.20231202.13

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    Ciro Clemente De Falco. Geo-Media and Neighbourhood Effects’ Studies: A New Frontier. Soc Sci. 2023;12(2):64-75. doi: 10.11648/j.ss.20231202.13

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ss.20231202.13,
      author = {Ciro Clemente De Falco},
      title = {Geo-Media and Neighbourhood Effects’ Studies: A New Frontier},
      journal = {Social Sciences},
      volume = {12},
      number = {2},
      pages = {64-75},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ss.20231202.13},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ss.20231202.13},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ss.20231202.13},
      abstract = {In the era of data revolution, new types of data and data sources allow researchers to find innovative ways to study society and its dynamics. The concept of neighbourhood effects (NE) was born within the sociological debate on the relationship between territory and social phenomena inaugurated by Durkheim and continued by other authors from many disciplines. NE is a particular concept that is borne more by empirical evidence than theory. This aspect is quite problematic because it is easy to find studies that investigate how spatial characteristics influence social phenomena; however, there is no agreement on the ways in which spatial influence manifests itself or on which spatial elements have a sociological bearing. Initially absent in Internet studies, NE have been progressively investigated owing to the geo-media. Crowdsourced Geographic Information has made it possible to jointly analyze two dimensions previously considered incompatible, such as the online and offline worlds. The purpose of this study is twofold. The first objective is to analyze how the discourse on NE is evolving in digital studies that use crowdsourced Geographic Information. The second objective is to identify the critical elements of this approach. In particular, we will try to give the reader the answer to the following questions: What kind of geo-media has been used? Which topics do NE research focus on? What are the hypothesized mechanisms that link space and social phenomena? What are the most frequently used approaches for this purpose? A systematic literature review was used to answer these questions.},
     year = {2023}
    }
    

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    T1  - Geo-Media and Neighbourhood Effects’ Studies: A New Frontier
    AU  - Ciro Clemente De Falco
    Y1  - 2023/03/28
    PY  - 2023
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    DO  - 10.11648/j.ss.20231202.13
    T2  - Social Sciences
    JF  - Social Sciences
    JO  - Social Sciences
    SP  - 64
    EP  - 75
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    AB  - In the era of data revolution, new types of data and data sources allow researchers to find innovative ways to study society and its dynamics. The concept of neighbourhood effects (NE) was born within the sociological debate on the relationship between territory and social phenomena inaugurated by Durkheim and continued by other authors from many disciplines. NE is a particular concept that is borne more by empirical evidence than theory. This aspect is quite problematic because it is easy to find studies that investigate how spatial characteristics influence social phenomena; however, there is no agreement on the ways in which spatial influence manifests itself or on which spatial elements have a sociological bearing. Initially absent in Internet studies, NE have been progressively investigated owing to the geo-media. Crowdsourced Geographic Information has made it possible to jointly analyze two dimensions previously considered incompatible, such as the online and offline worlds. The purpose of this study is twofold. The first objective is to analyze how the discourse on NE is evolving in digital studies that use crowdsourced Geographic Information. The second objective is to identify the critical elements of this approach. In particular, we will try to give the reader the answer to the following questions: What kind of geo-media has been used? Which topics do NE research focus on? What are the hypothesized mechanisms that link space and social phenomena? What are the most frequently used approaches for this purpose? A systematic literature review was used to answer these questions.
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  • Department of Social Sciences, University of Naples “Federico II”, Naples, Italy

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