Research

Computational methods are becoming increasingly popular in political and social science. However, they have largely been limited to the study of textual data. Images and advances in the field of automated image analysis have so far been neglected, leaving gaps but also potential for this data source. Politicians, civil society actors, but also citizens have identified climate change as one of the most important political issues of our time. But it is a phenomenon that we cannot yet directly experience in its full extent. Images – and the emotions they evoke – can have a crucial impact on people's attitudes towards climate change. In a first step, the project aims to explore what type of images prevail on social media. Next, it will take a closer look at what kind of emotions and reactions they may trigger among users.