Online social networks offer a great amount of information to study human behavior and social interaction. Twitter data is the most common source used by researchers due to its data accessibility. Moreover, for political scientists Twitter data is interesting because of the political nature of its conversations. However, Twitter data is still a new source in comparison to others, such as surveys and interviews. This might present a barrier for some researchers and students. Drawing on a research project on the UN climate change secretariat and its role and influence during UN climate change negotiations, our contribution aims to clarify the initial questions students might have when planning to use Twitter data. In particular, we answer the questions of where to obtain Twitter data and what advantages and challenges this kind of data poses, especially in regards to network research.

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social network analysis,twitter data,climate policy,environmental policy,multilateral negotiations,global governance

• Ciências Políticas - Ciências Sociais