This page gives details of my research. It's divided into four sections - my thesis, my publications (both academic and public-sector consulting work), my conference presentations, and other work which may be of interest.
It is as difficult to imagine the Web without search engines as it is to imagine roads without signs. Search engines are one of the primary, if not the primary method of navigation online. According to recent studies, 88% of Americans online have used a search engine at some point, making it the second most popular activity after email. But search engine companies, which make the technology that people use to find their way around the web, are unregulated, concentrated, and unaccountable for the results they produce. Nor do they produce them alone: a whole industry of search engine marketers or "optimisers" has sprung up to help corporate website owners improve their rankings on key search terms. It has been shown in a variety of studies carried out by computer science researchers that results are significantly biased towards large, corporate and American sites. We do not yet have a clear view of why this is so; an extensive review of over 1000 articles and 40 doctoral dissertations found no research that studied search engine production, and this is the gap the thesis addresses. The research takes as its theoretical starting point "technological structuration", a model developed by Wanda Orlikowski based on Anthony Giddens's structuration theory, and questions how and why this bias in search engine results is created and maintained.
These are, of course, in progress and may not exactly hang together yet. You have been warned. However they may still contain elements of interest to fellow researchers. I am always happy to receive comments on these drafts.
Introductory material on the project
This file contains a short introduction to the project and for the convenience of the reader includes a basic description of how search engines work in technical terms. The sources in the bibliography are of course more informative.
Chapter 2: Theory
This chapter sets out the conceptual framework of the thesis, which is based on Wanda Orlikowski's work on technological structuration. Concepts from political economy and from the social construction of technology form part of the overall framework, which stresses the importance of conflict and power in understanding the development of technology. I have rewritten this chapter several times already and anticipate more revisions...
Chapter 3: Methodology
This chapter develops the method of the project, which is split into two levels. The first level, agents and their actions, uses interviews with search engine producers, optimisers, distributors and commentators as its primary material. You see some of the fruits of this in chapter 6, and also you'll see more in chapter 4 when I rewrite it. The second level, structures, uses primarily documentary evidence such as press releases, financial documentation, press reports and policy documents. The analysis investigates the dynamics of commodification of web content (chapter 4, particularly when I revise it) and the growth and spread (spatialisation) of the industry (chapter 5).
Chapter 4: New Media? Political Economy of Search Engines
This chapter covers the industry structure, sources of revenue and ownership of search engines. It also looks specifically at search engine advertising and search engine optimisation. This chapter will show also how online advertising is reshaping the web as a whole, and investigates the processes of search engine optimisation.
Chapter 5: Global Gatekeeping
Not written! But this is meant to cover the way in which search engines are consolidating and investigate global reach and ownership.
Chapter 6: Discourses of Search Engine Production
This chapter uses theories of discourse analysis investigate the interpretative schemes (Giddens) or technological frames of reference (Orlikowski) of search engine producers. It reveals two major interpretative schemes - those of the market and of science - which together create a conception of quality as both customer satisfaction and relevance. Thus the question of bias, which is central to the research question and to various claims of objectivity by the search engines, is at odds with the perceptions of producers about what makes a quality search.
Chapter 7: Analysis
Not written! This chapter will look again at the three empirical chapters above and relate them to each other, to the theoretical framework, and to the overall question.
Chapter 8: Conclusion
Not written! This chapter will restate the findings of the thesis in a clear, concise, articulate, and persuasive fashion. I hope.
9: Appendices
From the methodology chapter.
Forthcoming (Winter, 2005). With Sonia Livingstone and Nancy Thumim. "Converging traditions of research on media and information literacies: Disciplinary and methodological issues" in Handbook of Research on New Literacies. Donald J. Leu, Julie Coiro, Michele Knobel and Colin Lankshear, eds. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Forthcoming (Autumn, 2005). Case studies in local government webcasting . Commissioned by the Improvement & Development Agency (IDeA) and Xpedita, Ltd. To be published by IDeA. Approx 25pp.
2005. IT managers' guide to Webcasting in local government. Commissioned
by the Improvement & Development Agency (IDeA) and Xpedita, Ltd. Published by IDEA. 9pp.
PDF file at IDeA
2005. Digital communications in the marketing mix. Commissioned by the
Improvement & Development Agency (IDeA) and Xpedita, Ltd. Published by IDeA. 9pp.
PDF file at IDeA
2004. Adult media literacy: A review of the research literature. With Sonia Livingstone and Nancy Thumim. Ofcom.
PDF file at Ofcom
2003. Local Government Webcasting Report: Do we, could we, should we? Understanding webcasting in the context of local government service delivery and communication activity. Commissioned by the Improvement & Development Agency (IDeA) and Xpedita, Ltd. Published by IDeA. 86pp.
PDF file at Xpedita
2004. New Media? The Political Economy of Internet Search Engines Presented at the
Annual Conference of the International Association of Media & Communications Researchers.
Porto Alegre, Brazil, July 25-30.
PDF file
2003. Media Power on the Internet Presented to the Research Seminar in Media, Culture & Communications at the LSE.
PDF file
Comments and contacts are always welcome: e.j.van-couvering@lse.ac.uk.