Laurier Researchers Selected as Facebook Award Recipients
Sept. 15, 2020
In early August, the winners of Facebook’s request for proposals on misinformation and polarization were announced. After receiving over 1,000 proposals from 600 institutions and 77 counties, 25 recipients were selected. Among these recipients was Laurier Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology student, Victoria A. Parker.
When Facebook launched the request for proposals back in February, Parker and her advisor Dr. Anne Wilson were in the midst of presenting their work on political false polarization. Colleagues who had seen their presentations at conferences reached out to Parker to let her know about the opportunity with Facebook, as the call for research on Polarization and Misinformation aligned so closely with her research. After looking over the request for proposals Parker was eager to give it a shot, “I forwarded it to Anne, and we started brainstorming for our application the very next day.”
Parker’s resilience drove the application process, especially when the deadline was early April, and the university closed in mid-March for pandemic safety measures. “It felt like the world was ending, and I was stuck inside trying to write on my living room couch,” says Parker. Thankfully a month extension to the deadline provided some relief, and the most challenging part of the application amounted to ensuring their extensive research proposal would fit into the tight page limit.
Dr. Wilson has praised Parker’s driving force since she first heard about the opportunity. “She developed the proposal as an extension of her SSHRC-funded dissertation work and wrote the first draft of everything,” said Dr. Wilson, who added she followed by doing final revisions and mentoring the process of grantsmanship. “I truly consider her [Parker] the PI (Principal Investigator) of this work.”
When recipients of the award were announced on August 7th, the pair were pleasantly surprised with their selection, which was accompanied by an unrestricted gift grant valued at $49,830 from Facebook. “We were pretty shocked to get one of the awards - 25 grants were awarded with over 1000 applicants so a success rate of under 3% - and we were the only Canadians to get one,” says Dr. Wilson, “it’s a pretty big deal for a doctoral student!”
The grant designated as an unrestricted gift was likewise important for the pair’s research. This classification of the grant means that Facebook can’t hold influence over what research can be done or the findings communicated. “This is important in that it allows the researchers to be independent in pursuing scientific questions, not company goals,” says Dr. Wilson, “we're free to pursue the questions we choose and report any conclusions even those that might be critical of the company or the role of social media in society. “
Parker is eager to put the grant to great use, while she continues the research she has been pursuing since her Master’s degree, research originally inspired by the dynamics of the 2016 American election. “This award is an amazing opportunity to focus on how social media can accelerate the development of social norms, how it might discourage dissent due to its features,” says Parker. “We’re aiming to explore what role social media is playing in creating false impressions of your political opponent, but also how it can be leveraged to correct those misperceptions.”
When Facebook launched the request for proposals back in February, Parker and her advisor Dr. Anne Wilson were in the midst of presenting their work on political false polarization. Colleagues who had seen their presentations at conferences reached out to Parker to let her know about the opportunity with Facebook, as the call for research on Polarization and Misinformation aligned so closely with her research. After looking over the request for proposals Parker was eager to give it a shot, “I forwarded it to Anne, and we started brainstorming for our application the very next day.”
Parker’s resilience drove the application process, especially when the deadline was early April, and the university closed in mid-March for pandemic safety measures. “It felt like the world was ending, and I was stuck inside trying to write on my living room couch,” says Parker. Thankfully a month extension to the deadline provided some relief, and the most challenging part of the application amounted to ensuring their extensive research proposal would fit into the tight page limit.
Dr. Wilson has praised Parker’s driving force since she first heard about the opportunity. “She developed the proposal as an extension of her SSHRC-funded dissertation work and wrote the first draft of everything,” said Dr. Wilson, who added she followed by doing final revisions and mentoring the process of grantsmanship. “I truly consider her [Parker] the PI (Principal Investigator) of this work.”
When recipients of the award were announced on August 7th, the pair were pleasantly surprised with their selection, which was accompanied by an unrestricted gift grant valued at $49,830 from Facebook. “We were pretty shocked to get one of the awards - 25 grants were awarded with over 1000 applicants so a success rate of under 3% - and we were the only Canadians to get one,” says Dr. Wilson, “it’s a pretty big deal for a doctoral student!”
The grant designated as an unrestricted gift was likewise important for the pair’s research. This classification of the grant means that Facebook can’t hold influence over what research can be done or the findings communicated. “This is important in that it allows the researchers to be independent in pursuing scientific questions, not company goals,” says Dr. Wilson, “we're free to pursue the questions we choose and report any conclusions even those that might be critical of the company or the role of social media in society. “
Parker is eager to put the grant to great use, while she continues the research she has been pursuing since her Master’s degree, research originally inspired by the dynamics of the 2016 American election. “This award is an amazing opportunity to focus on how social media can accelerate the development of social norms, how it might discourage dissent due to its features,” says Parker. “We’re aiming to explore what role social media is playing in creating false impressions of your political opponent, but also how it can be leveraged to correct those misperceptions.”
Unknown Spif - $key