Forschungsschwerpunkte
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Aktualisiertes Forschungsprogramm
Zum Auftakt der ersten Etablierungsphase im September 2022 hat das Weizenbaum-Institut sein Forschungsprogramm aktualisiert. Um die relevanten Herausforderungen und Chancen des digitalen Wandels für Individuen und Gesellschaften interdisziplinär, grundlagenorientiert und wertebasiert zu untersuchen, wird die Forschung fortan in vier interdisziplinären Forschungsschwerpunkten organisiert:
- Digitale Technologien in der Gesellschaft: zwischen Teilhabechancen und neuen Ungleichheiten
- Digitale Märkte und Öffentlichkeiten auf Plattformen: zwischen Gemeinwohl und wirtschaftlichen Imperativen
- Organisation von Wissen: zwischen Offenheit und Exklusivität
- Digitale Infrastrukturen in der Demokratie: zwischen Sicherheit und Freiheit
Jeder Schwerpunkt analysiert ein gesellschaftliches Spannungsverhältnis, das den gemeinsamen Bezug für die Arbeit in den jeweils vier Forschungsgruppen bildet, die einem Schwerpunkt zugeordnet sind. Flankiert und unterstützt werden die Forschungsgruppen vom neuen Weizenbaum Digital Science Center, das Forschungs-, Vernetzungs-, Orientierungs- und Infrastrukturleistungen für die interdisziplinäre Digitalisierungsforschung erbringt und die Kohärenz der Forschung stärkt.
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- ItemA centrality analysis of the Lightning Network(2023) Zabka, Philipp; Förster, Klaus-T.; Decker, Christian; Schmid, StefanBlockchain technology has a huge impact on our digital society by enabling a more decentralized economy and policy making. This decentralization is also pivotal in payment Payment channel networks (PCNs), including the Lightning Network, have emerged as a promising solution to the scalability challenges that many blockchain-based cryptocurrencies, like Bitcoin, grapple with. These PCNs, while innovative, also inherit the rigorous dependability demands of the blockchain. A pivotal aspect of this dependability is the need for a high degree of decentralization, essential for mitigating liquidity bottlenecks and on-path attacks.
- ItemA Common Effort: New Divisions of Labor Between Journalism and OSINT Communities on Digital Platforms(2024) Charlton, Timothy; Mayer, Anna-Theresa; Ohme, JakobThis article explores the interactions between journalistic actors and emerging open-source intelligence and investigation (OSINT) communities. It employs qualitative content analysis of discourse from two OSINT communities surrounding three events following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, which received substantial coverage in news media. OSINT practices are rapidly becoming a mainstay of the contemporary political process by allowing ordinary citizens to verify information shared through digital platforms, which is traditionally the societal task assigned to journalism. In doing so, they provide a timely factual baseline for opinion formation and political decision-making. This research explores the role constellations resulting from this shift in verification duties from journalistic actors to amateur online communities on digital platforms and maps the fundamental dynamics involved in OSINT. We analyze how information is received and processed in OSINT communities, how digital platforms facilitate the fact-checking process, and how journalism and OSINT interact. Based on our findings, we develop a theoretical framework that distinguishes between the input, throughput, and output phases of OSINT. Our model contributes to a baseline understanding of the crucial and novel partnership between citizens and journalists on digital platforms.
- ItemA Decentralized Provenance Network for Linked Open Data(2019) Kirstein, Fabian; Qiao, Miao; Dragoni, MauroWith the growing availability of Linked Open Data (LOD) and the consequential generation of derived and aggregated data, the need for trustworthy, reproducible and accessible provenance informa- tion has increased. Yet, no consistent mechanism has been established to manage provenance data of LOD on a global dataset-level. Decentralized networks and peer-to-peer mechanisms have made their revival in the last years with blockchain and similar distributed ledger technologies. We propose a novel approach to track and store provenance information for LOD on a dataset-level by sharing an immutable, common state between data providers. The basic architecture will not disrupt existing methodologies and standards for publishing LOD, but will be transparently integrated into existing ecosystems as an additional layer to foster broad acceptance. We will investigate the application of emerging blockchain technologies and established Linked Data specifications for building this decentralized anchor of truth. We are actively involved in the design and implementation of LOD and Open Data platforms and will evaluate our approach in real-world scenarios regarding feasibility, governance, scalability and usability.
- ItemA multidimensional and analytical perspective on Open Educational Practices in the 21st century(2022) Brandenburger, BonnyParticipatory approaches to teaching and learning are experiencing a new lease on life in the 21st century as a result of the rapid technology development. Knowledge, practices, and tools can be shared across spatial and temporal boundaries in higher education by means of Open Educational Resources, Massive Open Online Courses, and open-source technologies. In this context, the Open Education Movement calls for new didactic approaches that encourage greater learner participation in formal higher education. Based on a representative literature review and focus group research, in this study an analytical framework was developed that enables researchers and practitioners to assess the form of participation in formal, collaborative teaching and learning practices. The analytical framework is focused on the micro-level of higher education, in particular on the interaction between students and lecturers when organizing the curriculum. For this purpose, the research reflects anew on the concept of participation, taking into account existing stage models for participation in the educational context. These are then brought together with the dimensions of teaching and learning processes, such as methods, objectives and content, etc. This paper aims to make a valuable contribution to the opening up of learning and teaching, and expands the discourse around possibilities for interpreting Open Educational Practices.
- ItemA Pragmatic Way to Open Management Research and Education: Playfulness, Ambiguity, and Deterritorialization(2022) de Vaujany, François-Xavier; Heimstädt, MaximilianThe open science movement has reached management research and education. Around the world, management scholars discuss, probe, and evaluate ways to make their work practices less ‘closed’ and more ‘open.’ However, how exactly such new work practices change management knowledge and teaching depends, to a large extent, on practitioners’ philosophical interpretation of ‘openness.’ Today, openness in management research and education is mainly interpreted as a feature of the input to or output from knowledge work. These interpretations conceive of research and education as relatively stable entities which can be opened at some clearly defined points. Our study aims to unsettle this conception and propose a new and more radical interpretation of openness. We propose to reconsider openness via the processual approach of American Pragmatism and thereby in a sense that dispenses with requiring the predisposition of research and education as stable entities. Via this interpretation of openness, management research and education can be transformed into a co-productive democratic movement which can bring about knowledge commons interwoven with true managerial and societal problems. To offer a first description of openness as a process that can transform management research and education, we analyze ethnographic material from two types of pragmatist experiments, which the first author facilitated between 2016 and 2021. We identify three key dimensions in the process of opening research and education: playfulness, ambiguity, and deterritorialization. Our study advances debates on the question of how management research can be more immediately helpful to management practitioners and students’ concerns.
- ItemA study on tacit knowledge – Development of a theoretical knowledge model and its instantiation in Virtual RealityZum Erkenntnisgegenstand des stillschweigenden Wissens – Erarbeitung eines lerntheoretischen Wissensmodells und dessen Instanziierung im virtuellen Raum(2024) Teichmann, Malte RolfThe present dissertation examines the subject of tacit knowledge, a topic of significant relevance in the fields of business knowledge management, information systems, and information system science. Starting with a critical in-depth analysis of the foundational works of Michael Polanyi and Ikujirō Nonaka & Hirotaka Takeuchi, the research process aims to develop an understanding of tacit knowledge that is decoupled from metaphysical perspectives and to provide explanations for its formation supported by learning theories. Embracing the potentials of digital (learning) technologies, a virtual reality-based learning environment is also created, which can contribute to the acquisition of tacit knowledge. Using the Design Science Research Method (DSRM), the work pursues two design goals: the development of a learning-theoretical knowledge model to explain the formation of tacit knowledge and the development of a virtual reality-based learning environment to acquire tacit knowledge.
- article.listelement.badgeA Translation Service for Open Data Portals(2022) Urbanek, Sebastian; Schimmler, SonjaThere exists a huge variety of Open Data portals, some of them providing just a handful, and others tens of thousands of datasets. The datasets they provide are expected to be supplied with metadata describing them. However, this metadata is typically available in one or two languages only, and, if translations exist, they are usually added manually. To build an inclusive data infrastructure, metadata should be available in as many languages as possible. The paper presents an approach for automatic translation of metadata within Open Data portals, based on Semantic Web technologies and using the metadata standard DCAT-AP. Based on this approach, new functionalities are possible, such as enabling users to search for datasets in their native language. The approach was implemented for and tested within a practical application in a production environment.
- ItemAlgorithm dependency in platformized news use(2023) Schaetz, Nadja; Gagrčin, Emilija; Toth, Roland; Emmer, MartinPrevious research has highlighted the ambiguous experience of algorithmic news curation whereby people are simultaneously comfortable with algorithms, but also concerned about the underlying data collection practices. The present article builds on media dependency theory and news-finds-me (NFM) perceptions to explore this tension. Empirically, we analyze original survey data from six European countries (Germany, Sweden, France, Greece, Poland, and Italy, n = 2,899) to investigate how young Europeans’ privacy concerns and attitudes toward algorithms affect NFM. We find that a more positive attitude toward algorithms and more privacy concerns are related to stronger NFM. The study highlights power asymmetries in platformized news use and suggests that the ambivalent experiences might be a result of algorithm dependency, whereby individuals rely on algorithms in platformized news use to meet their information needs, despite accompanying risks and concerns.
- ItemAlgorithmen als Rationalitätsmythos(FernUniversität in Hagen, 2020) Keiner, Alexandra; Leineweber, Christian; de Witt, ClaudiaAlgorithmen gelten derzeit als die Antwort auf eine Vielzahl gesellschaftlicher Probleme. Von der Bekämpfung des Klimawandels über die Vorbeugung von Armut und Kriminalität bis hin zur Früherkennung von Krebs – Algorithmen scheinen eine Universallösung zu sein. Mit dem neo-institutionalistischen Konzept rationalisierter Mythen wird in diesem Beitrag versucht, für diese solutionistische Faszination eine Erklärung zu liefern.
- ItemAlgorithmen der Alterität - Alterität der Algorithmen. Überlegungen zu einem komplexen Verhältnis(2023) Berg, Sebastian; Koster, Ann-Kathrin; Matzner, Tobias; Maschewski, Felix; Nosthoff, Anna-Verena
- ItemAlgorithmic Management in the Food Delivery Sector – A Contested Terrain? Evidence from a Form-Level Case-Study on Algorithmic Management and Co-Determination(Weizenbaum Institute, 2023) Wotschack, Philip; Hellbach, Leon; Butollo, Florian; Ziour, JordiForms of algorithmic management (AM) play an essential role in organizing food delivery work by deploying AI-based systems for coordinating driver routes. Given the risks of precarity and threats posed by AM that are typically related to (migrant) platform work, the question arises to what extent structures of co-determination are able to positively shape this type of work and the technologies involved. Based on an intense case-study in a large food delivery company, this paper is guided by three questions: (1) How is algorithm-based management and control used by the company? (2) How is it perceived by the couriers, also in relation to other aspects of their work? (3) What are the works council’s priorities, strategies, and achievements regarding co-determination practices? Contrary to the prevalent perception in the literature on the subject of AM, our analysis shows that human agency is still pivotal when algorithm-based systems are used to manage work processes. While data- and AM-related issues do not represent a central area of conflict, we find that co-determination rights in this domain can translate into a powerful bargaining resource of the works council with regard to the companies’ digital business model. Our study also shows that algorithmic management poses problems of non-transparency and information asymmetry, which calls for new forms and procedures of co-determination.
- ItemAlgorithmic media use and algorithm literacy: An integrative literature review(2024) Gagrčin, Emilija; Naab, Teresa K.; Grub, Maria F.Algorithms profoundly shape user experiences on digital platforms, raising concerns about their negative impacts and highlighting the importance of algorithm literacy. Research on individuals’ understanding of algorithms and their effects is expanding rapidly but lacks a cohesive framework. We conducted a systematic integrative literature review across social sciences and humanities (n = 169), addressing algorithm literacy in terms of its key conceptualizations and the endogenous, exogenous, and personal factors that influence it. We argue that existing research can be framed in terms of experiential learning cycles and outline how this approach can be beneficial for acquiring algorithm literacy. Finally, we propose a future research agenda that includes defining core competencies relevant to algorithm literacy, standardization of measures, integrating subjective and factual aspects of algorithm literacy, and task- and domain-specific approaches.
- ItemAlgorithmically Curated Lies: How Search Engines Handle Misinformation about US Biolabs in Ukraine(2024) Kuznetsova, Elizaveta; Makhortykh, Mykola; Sydorova, Maryna; Urman, Aleksandra; Vitulano, Ilaria; Stolze, MarthaThe growing volume of online content prompts the need for adopting algorithmic systems of information curation. These systems range from web search engines to recommender systems and are integral for helping users stay informed about important societal developments. However, unlike journalistic editing the algorithmic information curation systems (AICSs) are known to be subject to different forms of malperformance which make them vulnerable to possible manipulation. The risk of manipulation is particularly prominent in the case when AICSs have to deal with information about false claims that underpin propaganda campaigns of authoritarian regimes. Using as a case study of the Russian disinformation campaign concerning the US biolabs in Ukraine, we investigate how one of the most commonly used forms of AICSs - i.e. web search engines - curate misinformation-related content. For this aim, we conduct virtual agent-based algorithm audits of Google, Bing, and Yandex search outputs in June 2022. Our findings highlight the troubling performance of search engines. Even though some search engines, like Google, were less likely to return misinformation results, across all languages and locations, the three search engines still mentioned or promoted a considerable share of false content (33% on Google; 44% on Bing, and 70% on Yandex). We also find significant disparities in misinformation exposure based on the language of search, with all search engines presenting a higher number of false stories in Russian. Location matters as well with users from Germany being more likely to be exposed to search results promoting false information. These observations stress the possibility of AICSs being vulnerable to manipulation, in particular in the case of the unfolding propaganda campaigns, and underline the importance of monitoring performance of these systems to prevent it.
- ItemArbeit und Qualifizierung 2030 – Essentials. Eine Momentaufnahme aus dem Maschinenraum der dualen Transformation von Digitalisierung und Elektromobilität: Transformationserleben – Transformationsressourcen – Transformationsbereitschaft bei Volkswagen(Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, 2023) Pfeiffer, Sabine; Baethge, Volker; Blank, Marco; Bolte, Annegret; Elsholz, Uwe; Hauschild, Janna; Heinlein, Michael; Huchler, Norbert; Krzywdzinski, Martin; Kuhlmann, Martin; Meyer, Rita; Neumer, Judith; Ottaiano, Mario; Ritter, Tobias; Rühling, Shana; Sauer, Stefan; Wilbers, Karl; Windelband, Lars
- ItemAre Campaigns Getting Uglier, and Who Is to Blame? Negativity, Dramatization and Populism on Facebook in the 2014 and 2019 EP Election Campaigns(2023) Klinger, Ulrike; Koc-Michalska, Karolina; Rußmann, Uta
- ItemArtificial muses: Generative Artificial Intelligence Chatbots Have Risen to Human-Level Creativity(2023) Haase, Jennifer; Hanel, Paul H. P.A widespread view is that Artificial Intelligence cannot be creative. We tested this assumption by comparing human-generated ideas with those generated by six Generative Artificial Intelligence (GAI) chatbots: $alpa.\!ai$, $Copy.\!ai$, ChatGPT (versions 3 and 4), $Studio.\!ai$, and YouChat. Humans and a specifically trained AI independently assessed the quality and quantity of ideas. We found no qualitative difference between AI and human-generated creativity, although there are differences in how ideas are generated. Interestingly, 9.4 percent of humans were more creative than the most creative GAI, GPT-4. Our findings suggest that GAIs are valuable assistants in the creative process. Continued research and development of GAI in creative tasks is crucial to fully understand this technology's potential benefits and drawbacks in shaping the future of creativity. Finally, we discuss the question of whether GAIs are capable of being truly creative.
- ItemAugmenting Data Download Packages – Integrating Data Donations, Video Metadata, and the Multimodal Nature of Audio-visual Content(2024) Wedel, Lion; Ohme, Jakob; Araujo, TheoThis research explores the potential of augmented Data Download Packages (aDDPs) as a novel approach to analyze digital trace data, using TikTok as a use case to demonstrate the broader applicability of the method. The study demonstrates how these data packages can be used in social science research to understand better user behavior, content consumption patterns, and the relationship between self-reported preferences and actual digital behavior.We introduce the concept of aDDPs, which extend the conventional Data Download Packages (DDPs) by augmenting the collected data with survey data, metadata, content data, and multimodal content embeddings, among other possibilities - rendering aDDPs an unprecedentedly rich data source for social science research. This work provides an overview and guidance on collecting, augmenting DDPs, and analyzing the resulting aDDPs.In a pilot study on 18 aDDPs, we use the combination of data components in aDDPs to facilitate research on user engagement behavior and content classification. We showcase the potential of the information breadth and depth that aDDPs depict by exploiting the combination of multimodal content embeddings, the users’ watch history, and survey data. To do so, we train and compare uni- and multimodal classifiers, classify the 18 aDDPs’ videos, and investigate the extent to which user engagement behavior impacts future content suggestions. Furthermore, we compare the users retrieved content with the users’ self-reported content consumption.
- ItemAuswirkungen von Covid-19 auf arbeitsvermittelnde Plattformen und Ressourcen der Pandemiebewältigung(2023) Gerber, Christine; Wandjo, DavidDer Artikel untersucht die Auswirkungen der Covid-19-Pandemie auf arbeitsvermittelnde Plattformunternehmen sowie deren Strategien der Krisenbewältigung. Auf Grundlage einer qualitativen Untersuchung von zehn Unternehmen, die ortsabhängige und/oder ortsunabhängige Plattformarbeit in Deutschland organisieren, werden die Gruppen der Krisengewinner und Krisenbewältiger identifiziert. Die Befunde zeigen, dass zentrale Bewältigungsstrategien vor allem die Anpassung der angebotenen Dienstleistungen und die Erschließung neuer Kund*innen, teilweise sogar die Anpassung des Geschäftsmodells, sowie die Optimierungen von Service-Abläufen waren. Zentrale Resilienzressourcen sind insbesondere skalier- und diversifizierbare Ökosysteme, das Asset-light-Modell und damit einhergehend geringe Fixkosten sowie eine hohe Risikoauslagerung. Der Artikel trägt zu den Debatten um das mögliche Ausbreitungspotenzial des Geschäftsmodells in der Pandemie sowie um die Anpassungsfähigkeit von arbeitsvermittelnden Plattformunternehmen an externe, gesellschaftliche Veränderungen bei.
- ItemAway from Keyboard. Design research in the context of social and political participation(transcript, 2022) Herlo, Bianca; Schütze, Konstanze; Hofhues, Sandra
- ItemBetween control and participation: The politics of algorithmic management(2024) Krzywdzinski, Martin; Schneiß, Daniel; Sperling, AndreaUnderstanding the role of human management is crucial for the debate over algorithmic management—to date limited to studies on the platform economy. This qualitative case study in logistics reconstructs the actor constellations (managers, engineers, data scientists and workers) and negotiation processes in different phases of algorithmic management. It offers two major contributions to the literature: (1) a process model distinguishing three phases: goal formation, data production and data analysis, which is used to analyse (2) the politics of algorithmic management in conventional workplaces, which differ significantly from platform companies. The article goes beyond surveillance to elucidate the role of the regulatory framework, various actors' knowledge contributions to the algorithmic management system, and the power relations resulting therefrom. While the managerial goals in the examined case were not oriented towards a surveillance regime, the outcome was nevertheless a centralisation of knowledge and disempowerment of workers.