Digital Spaces for Political Expression in Emerging Democracies: An Analysis of Social Media Sentiment on Civic Engagement and Identity Politics

  • Funded PhD opportunity
  • Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences
  • Full-time and Part-time
Apply and key information  

This project is funded by:

    • Department for the Economy (DfE)
    • Vice Chancellor's Research Scholarship (VCRS)

Summary

Project objectives are trilateral. First, to apply sentiment analysis to social media discussions to estimate tone, sentiment (positive, negative, neutral), and themes (e.g., in socio-political areas like women’s rights, ethnic/racial identity, and youth activism). Second, investigate how the political environment influences social media expression and activism, with a focus on minority or activist voices. And third, explore the themes of socio-political narratives that emerge within the context of developing countries and examine how these are framed and whether they prompt engagement or controversy.

The proposed project should answer two main questions:

(1) In what ways do digital platforms in emerging democracies enable or limit political expression?; and

(2) How does the tone and character of political discourse on social media diverge from official narratives, and what insights does this offer about the role of digital spaces in shaping civic engagement and political identity?

Essential criteria

Applicants should hold, or expect to obtain, a First or Upper Second Class Honours Degree in a subject relevant to the proposed area of study.

We may also consider applications from those who hold equivalent qualifications, for example, a Lower Second Class Honours Degree plus a Master’s Degree with Distinction.

In exceptional circumstances, the University may consider a portfolio of evidence from applicants who have appropriate professional experience which is equivalent to the learning outcomes of an Honours degree in lieu of academic qualifications.

  • Research proposal of 2000 words detailing aims, objectives, milestones and methodology of the project

Equal Opportunities

The University is an equal opportunities employer and welcomes applicants from all sections of the community, particularly from those with disabilities.

Appointment will be made on merit.

Funding and eligibility

This project is funded by:

  • Department for the Economy (DfE)
  • Vice Chancellor's Research Scholarship (VCRS)

Our fully funded PhD scholarships will cover tuition fees and provide a maintenance allowance of £19,237 (tbc) per annum for three years* (subject to satisfactory academic performance).  A Research Training Support Grant (RTSG) of £900 per annum is also available.

These scholarships, funded via the Department for the Economy (DfE) and the Vice Chancellor’s Research Scholarships (VCRS), are open to applicants worldwide, regardless of residency or domicile.

Applicants who already hold a doctoral degree or who have been registered on a programme of research leading to the award of a doctoral degree on a full-time basis for more than one year (or part-time equivalent) are NOT eligible to apply for an award.

*Part time PhD scholarships may be available, based on 0.5 of the full time rate, and will require a six year registration period (individual project advertisements will note where part time options apply).

Due consideration should be given to financing your studies.

Recommended reading

  • Brubaker, R. (2014). Nationalizing states revisited: projects and processes of nationalization in post-Soviet states. In Nationalism, ethnicity and boundaries (pp. 177-203). Routledge.
  • Budescu, D. V., &Budescu, M. (2012). How to measure diversity when you must. Psychological Methods, 17(2), 215–227. doi:10.1037/a0027129
  • Costa, D. L., & Kahn, M. E. (2003). Civic engagement and community heterogeneity: An economist's perspective. Perspectives on politics, 1(1), 103-111.
  • Faranda, R., & Nolle, D. B. (2011). Boundaries of ethnic identity in Central Asia: titular and Russian perceptions of ethnic commonalities in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 34(4), 620-642.
  • Giffen, J., Earle, L., & Buxton, C. (2005). The development of civil society in Central Asia (pp. 71-73). Oxford: Intrac.
  • Hooghe, M., Reeskens, T., Stolle, D., & Trappers, A. (2009). Ethnic diversity and generalized trust in Europe: A cross-national multilevel study. Comparative political studies, 42(2), 198-223.
  • Jackson, S. et al. 1991. ‘Some Differences Make a Difference: Individual Dissimilarity and Group Heterogeneity as Correlates of Recruitment, Promotions and Turnover’, Journal of Applied Psychology 76, 675–89.
  • Nezhina, T. G., & Ibrayeva, A. R. (2013). Explaining the role of culture and traditions in functioning of civil society organizations in Kazakhstan. Voluntas: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations, 24(2), 335-358.
  • O’Connor, K., Janenova, S., & Knox, C. (2019). Open government in authoritarian regimes. International Review of Public Policy, 1(1: 1), 65-82.
  • Radnitz, S. (2004). ‘The Tyranny of Small Differences: The Relationship Between Ethnic Diversity and Democracy in the Former Socialist Bloc. Demokratizatsiya, 12(4), 575-606.
  • Sharipova, D., Burkhanov, A., & Alpeissova, A. (2017). The determinants of civic and ethnic nationalisms in Kazakhstan: Evidence from the grass-roots level. Nationalism and Ethnic Politics, 23(2), 203-226.
  • Tan, K. L., Lee, C. P., & Lim, K. M. (2023). A survey of sentiment analysis: Approaches, datasets, and future research. Applied Sciences, 13(7), 4550.
  • Yusuf, A., Sarlan, A., Danyaro, K. U., Rahman, A. S. B., & Abdullahi, M. (2024). Sentiment Analysis in Low-Resource Settings: A Comprehensive Review of Approaches, Languages, and Data Sources. IEEE Access.
  • Mao, Y., Liu, Q., & Zhang, Y. (2024). Sentiment analysis methods, applications, and challenges: A systematic literature review. Journal of King Saud University-Computer and Information Sciences, 102048.
  • Bakliwal, A., Foster, J., van der Puil, J., O'Brien, R., Tounsi, L., & Hughes, M. (2013, June). Sentiment analysis of political tweets: Towards an accurate classifier. Association for Computational Linguistics.
  • Sandoval-Almazan, R., & Valle-Cruz, D. (2020). Sentiment analysis of Facebook users reacting to political campaign posts. Digital Government: Research and Practice, 1(2), 1-13.
  • Dorle, S., & Pise, N. (2018, February). Political sentiment analysis through social media. In 2018 second international conference on computing methodologies and communication (ICCMC) (pp. 869-873). IEEE.
  • Haselmayer, M., & Jenny, M. (2017). Sentiment analysis of political communication: Combining a dictionary approach with crowdcoding. Quality & quantity, 51, 2623-2646.
  • conference on computing methodologies and communication (ICCMC) (pp. 869-873). IEEE.
  • Haselmayer, M., & Jenny, M. (2017). Sentiment analysis of political communication: Combining a dictionary approach with crowdcoding. Quality & quantity, 51, 2623-2646.

The Doctoral College at Ulster University

Key dates

Submission deadline
Monday 24 February 2025
04:00PM

Interview Date
week commencing 31 March 2025

Preferred student start date
15 September 2025

Applying

Apply Online  

Contact supervisor

Dr Diana Toimbek

Diana Toimbek

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Email
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