Framing Scientific Evidence – A Qualitative Analysis of Micro-Frames in Comments on Climate Change

Grunddaten zu diesem Projekt

Beschreibung

Climate change is one of the greatest challenges of our time, yet scientific evidence on the topic is often contested in public discourse. Online platforms like YouTube have become key spaces where climate-related discussions unfold, allowing a diverse range of actors to shape narratives. This project examines how scientific evidence is framed in user comments on YouTube videos about climate change. It explores the ways in which users construct, support, or challenge scientific claims and what linguistic and visual elements they use to do so. Using qualitative content analysis, the study identifies patterns in how scientific evidence is framed in online discussions. The project introduces the concept of “micro-frames” to analyze short text forms like user comments, which often contain only fragments of larger argumentative structures. The study follows an inductive approach, allowing frames to emerge from the data rather than being predefined. The expected outcome includes a scholarly publication and the development of a framework for detecting micro-frames in online discussions. The findings will contribute to climate communication research and provide insights for science communication practitioners by revealing common argumentative patterns. In the long term, the study lays the groundwork for automated frame detection in online discussions and a research grant proposal on framing evidences.