Method "before"

“Before” Method Section

 

The data collection process will focus on the Instagram account "TheHiddenOpponent". The account primarily features posts related to mental health, wellness, and overcoming challenges in athletics. To ensure a comprehensive analysis, I will gather data spanning from the last year. (April 2023-April 2024)

In order to gauge users' responses accurately, I plan on using sentiment analysis on the selected comments. I will employ a sentiment analysis model tailored to social media data, enabling the classification of comments into positive, negative, or neutral sentiments.

 

Sampling Strategy: Since this account is fairly active on Instagram, there is likely a plethora of posts I could choose from to analyze. Therefore, I plan on analyzing the 4 posts with the most interactions from the last year. So this means posts with a lot of likes or comments. I feel this will provide me with the most amount of data to analyze. I will then look at a range of 4-8 comments for each post. I feel this will give me a good sample of data to analyze. 

 

Sentiment Analysis: This is defined in the dictionary as the process of identifying and categorizing opinions expressed in a piece of text, especially in order to determine whether the writer’s attitude toward a particular topic is positive, negative, or neutral.  

So when I look at posts I will be looking for... 

Positive Sentiment- This will include comments expressing approval, appreciation, or agreement with the post.

Negative Sentiment- This will include comments displaying disapproval, criticism, or disagreement with the post.

Neutral Sentiment- This will include comments lacking detail or containing generic responses.

 

I recognize that some of this can be subjective since positivity and negativity can be different for all people. However, I will be paying specific attention to how words are being used and connotated in order to ensure that each comment is interpreted in the correct way. 

Following sentiment analysis, I will aggregate the results to generate insights into users' responses to "TheHiddenOpponent" posts:

 

Quantitative Analysis: I will quantify the distribution of positive, negative, and neutral sentiments across the collected comments.

 

Qualitative Analysis: Selected comments will be organized into recurring themes and trends. 

I am mainly looking to see if this account is engaging people, and in what way. Are people relating to these posts, do they feel this is helpful to them? This study is crucial for advancing our understanding of digital advocacy’s role in lowering the stigma associated with mental health discussions. My analysis aims to determine if and how digital platforms can serve as effective tools in the fight against mental health stigma. 

Throughout the study, ethical guidelines will be strictly followed, ensuring data confidentiality. Comments will be analyzed in aggregate form and no personally identifiable information will be disclosed.