Jun.-Prof. Dr. Annie Waldherr
Department of Communication
Room: E 223
Bispinghof 9-14
D-48143 Münster
Phone: +49 251 83-23000
Fax: +49 251 83-28394
annie.waldherr@uni-muenster.de
Consultation hours
by individual arrangement via mail
Department of Communication
Room: E 223
Bispinghof 9-14
D-48143 Münster
Phone: +49 251 83-23000
Fax: +49 251 83-28394
annie.waldherr@uni-muenster.de
by individual arrangement via mail
Public Sphere
Political Online Communication
Computational Social Science
Since 2017, Dr. Annie Waldherr, *1980, is an Assistant Professor of Communication Science at the University of Muenster.
From 1999 to 2005 she studied at the University of Hohenheim and graduated with a Diploma in Communication Science. During her studies, she spent a year abroad at the School of Journalism and Communication at the University of Oregon. She worked as a Research Associate for the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Hohenheim (2006-2010) and for the Institute of Media and Communication Studies at Freie Universität Berlin (2010-2016). In 2011, she obtained her PhD degree in Media and Communication Studies from Freie Universität Berlin for her work on the dynamics of media attention. In 2016, she was visiting scholar at the Network Science Institute at Northeastern University in Boston.
With the increasing digitalization of our contemporary societies, «Computational Social Science» (CSS) has become an established field of research over the last couple of years. As a subarea of social science, CSS focuses on computational methods – such as network analysis, text and data mining as well as computer simulation – to examine social phenomena and processes. Due to technological change, these methods have become more and more relevant as they enable to systematically analyze massive digital datasets.
The research project is part of the Collaborative Research Center 1265 “Re-Figuration of Spaces” (Coordinating university: TU Berlin). The center investigates changes in experience and constitution of space in light of processes of globalization and digitalization. In this framework, our project examines the spatiality of the “Twitterspheres” in the cities of Berlin and Jerusalem. Asking how virtual urban spaces are constituted through networked communication, we investigate communicative relations among Twitter users, their spatial locations, and the topics they talk about.
The research training group examines how trust can be developed and maintained under the conditions of new forms of communication. Digitized means of communication change the structure and sustainability of trust because firstly, familiar face-to-face communication is replaced by digitized interactions, secondly, virtual social and office networks emerge and finally, because new forms of relationships between the public, organisations and individuals develop. The postgraduate programme analyses the consequences of these processes for the establishment of trust relationships by the example of four prototypical areas: media, economy, science and sports.
Young Scholars Network: Temporal dynamics and process models in media effects research (2013-2016, funded by the DFG)
The network of young scholars – funded by the German National Science Foundation (DFG) – collected and discussed concepts and methods of studying temporal dynamics and processes in media effects research. Six selected longitudinal methods were discussed in-depth: physiological measurements, real-time-response, computer simulations, diary methods, dynamic network analysis, and matching. The similarities and differences between these methods were identified and documented with regard to their concepts of time and processes. In this context, Dr. Annie Waldherr and Dr. Martin Wettstein (University of Zurich) contributed expertise on agent-based simulation methods. The network was coordinated by Prof. Dr. Jens Vogelgesang (University of Hohenheim) and Prof. Dr. Michael Scharkow (Zeppelin University).
Project: Scientific Analysis of Citizen and Online Dialogs on the Quality of Life in Germany (2015-2016, funded by the Federal Chancellery of the Republic of Germany)
In 2015, the Federal Government initiated more than 200 citizen dialogues on well-being in Germany. Furthermore, citizens could share their ideas on the quality of life in Germany on an online platform or send a postcard. For the scientific analysis of approximately 200 written event records, 2500 online answers and 4500 postcards, a team from the FU Berlin headed by Prof. Dr. Barbara Pfetsch and Dr. Annie Waldherr worked closely together with the company CID GmbH. Team members were Peter Miltner, Sophia Ostner, Lars-Ole Müller and Daniela Stoltenberg. The analysis included qualitative and quantitative content analyses using the text-mining software Topic Analyst (CID GmbH). The results were documented in a scientific report and were included in the report of the Federal Government (2016) on the quality of life in Germany.
Links:
Scientific report
Report of the Federal Government
Aim of the study was to examine the dynamics of media coverage of new technologies and to contribute to their explanation. In particular, the conditions of the upswing of topics were explored. In this context, the dynamic interactions of events, topics, actors and frames were of specific interest. An agent-based computer model was developed that was able to simulate typical issue-attention cycles by the interactions of social actors and media actors within a virtual media system. The model and its assumptions were empirically examined based on empirical data on the topics “navigation systems” and “RFID” in the German press.