Many studies have shown that social networking sites (SNS) serve as important intermediaries for online news. To date, most of this research has relied on self-reports. In our study, we used a combination of (1) web tracking data from an online panel, (2) tracking of exposure to public posts on Facebook via a browser plugin, and (3) an online survey to study the role of SNS as intermediaries in news consumption. Combining such individual-level data challenges open-science ideals as such data is very privacy-sensitive and, hence, prohibits unrestricted sharing. Methodologically, our data-linking approach requires large samples while putting high demands on potential participants which severely complicates making precise forecasts and, thus, inhibits pre-registration. We will present key findings of our approach and preliminary solutions we found for data collection, informed consent, data management, and anonymization. We discuss how open-science practices are possible for such a study design.

Haim, M., Stier, S., & Breuer, J. (5/2020). Open science vs. privacy? A case study with linked web tracking, social media, and survey data. Presented at the 70th Annual Conference of the International Communication Association, Gold Coast. (content_copy)