Science and Islam Videos: Creating a Methodology to Find “All” Unique Internet Videos

Author(s) Vika Gardner, Salman Hameed
Contact Vika Gardner, Hampshire College, 893 West Street, Amherst, MA 01002, USA. E-mail: vgardner@hampshire.edu
Issue CyberOrient, Vol. 11, Iss. 1, 2017, pp. 54-85
Published May 10, 2017
Type Article
Abstract This methodology article explores the process through which we sought to catalogue videos addressing natural science and Islam on the Internet comprehensively. This data was then used to select videos for inclusion in the Center for the Study of Science in Muslim Societies’ Science and Islam Video Portal (www.scienceandislamvideos.com), which evaluates the videos based on their representations of science, Islam and history. As a growing body of research is demonstrating, Internet videos provide a window into the lives of both celebrity and ordinary Muslims and their critics worldwide. The article describes the methodological decisions of what to include and exclude from the study, framing them in a discussion of some of the key terms. We then step through the process of searching for videos and cleaning the data, providing flow charts with details. In the last section of the article, we discuss the results and their ramifications on our continuing research.
Keywords social media, Islam, media studies, video