BILD Calgary Region will host a luncheon on October 24, in partnership with the University of Calgary to discuss new research and linkages between campaign promises and the urban challenges facing our city.
The use of social media as a campaign tool is becoming more prevalent. This was obvious in the 2016 Presidential Election in the United States and in the 2017 Municipal Election here in Calgary. Many candidates used social media to communicate with voters, express their opinions and platforms, and debate political issues.
“An election can provide a tremendous opportunity to collect information and views on metropolitan growth and change,” says Dr. Kwangyul Choi, Postdoctoral Research Fellow for the Richard Parker Professorship in Metropolitan Growth and Change.
Dr. Choi and colleague Dr. Albert Han tracked and analyzed 2017 Civic Election candidates’ online campaign platforms over the course of the campaign.
Until the election results were released, the research and data was kept confidential, as to not influence candidate’s online presence. BILD Calgary Region recently interviewed the researchers about the study. We are now able to release part one of interview. Part two will be released after the results of the study are analyzed.
Why did you decide to conduct this study?
One of the primary objectives of the Professorship is to create a community engagement platform for facilitating hands-on problem solving on specific issues related to growth and change in the Calgary Metropolitan Area.
Dr. Jim Dewald, Dean of Haskayne School of Business and the interim Parker Professor proposed the idea for the research project – the Calgary Municipal Election Initiative – because the election can provide a tremendous opportunity to collect information and views on metropolitan growth and change.
What was your hypothesis before you started the study?
Instead of having a hypothesis, we explo