When recent graduate Jim Maddock (B.A./B.S. 2014) first came to the University of Washington he had planned to utilize his strong background in math and "hard" science to complete a degree in computer science. However, he recalls, he quickly learned two things about himself:
"First, while I enjoyed programming, I found the larger research and design questions that encapsulated computer science more compelling. I wanted to understand the broader context in which we built technology and its implications… Second, I learned that I could not be happy studying exclusively math and science. I needed a mixture of humanities and engineering."
After taking Professor Charity Urbanski's introductory course in medieval European history, Maddock knew that he had found the perfect complement to his more technical studies. He declared a double major in Human Centered Design and Engineering (HCDE) and History.
As an undergraduate at the University of Washington, Maddock began conducting social media research with Professor Kate Starbird of HCDE that analyzed the spread of rumors through Twitter during the Boston Marathon bombings of April 2013. Ultimately, he explains, they hope to better understand rumoring behavior and the propagation of misinformation under crisis or disaster conditions, and to build software that automatically detects rumors in real time. The qualitative research skills that he honed as a History major have been instrumental in his ability to successfully carry out this project.
"History… taught me to form a cohesive, logical argument; to argue persuasively; and to write coherently. Research in both history and science relies heavily on analytical argumentation and effective communication of ideas. Commonalities certainly seem to exist between analysis of numbers and analysis of texts, and due largely to my coursework in history I can communicate those analyses in ways that make sense, which I think is partially why our work has been—and continues to be—published."
This past march, Maddock traveled to Berlin to present a short version of his co-authored research paper at the iConference at Humboldt University. The paper, "Rumors, False Flags, and Digital Vigilantes: Misinformation on Twitter after the 2013 Boston Marathon Bombing" was awarded the Best Note award at the conference. He remembers the experience as intense but productive and rewarding.
Having contributed to the misinformation project since its inception in the summer of 2013, Maddock has since filled most roles in the project. The majority of his work involves combining quantitative and qualitative research techniques; specifically, "programming to perform quantitative analysis over millions of tweets and reading and looking for patterns across individual tweets." He also continues to contribute to the group's written publications and to lead small research subgroups as the research team continues to grow. He is scheduled to present a full-length paper of his research findings at the Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing (CSCW) in Vancouver, BC in March 2015. We look forward to hearing more about his fascinating work and wish him continued success!