Research interests

With a passion for exploring the intersection of digital technology and communication, my research interests delve into the dynamic landscape of digital media, its impact on society, and the evolving modes of interaction it facilitates. With a keen focus on understanding how emerging technologies shape our communication patterns, I am dedicated to unraveling the complexities of online discourse, digital literacy, and the influence of social media on our perceptions and behaviors. Through my research, I aim to contribute valuable insights that not only enrich academic discourse but also inform practical strategies for navigating the digital realm in a responsible and effective manner.

Academic background

Communication Science, Organization Sciences, International Development Studies, Political Science.

PhD research*

Can we infer rich information from `big text data'? And how can we use text-analytical methods to infer such rich information from large text collections with different characteristics? These are some of the questions that guided the aims and outcomes of the research presented in my dissertation.

Most of our knowledge of current and past world events, advances in science, or even elements of culture are gained, formed, and passed on through written and verbal text. Hence, the question is no longer whether or not text content is worth investigating, but rather which approach is the most insightful for a given research goal.

Expanding methods of relational meaning analysis, my dissertation provides an approach suited for the detection of subtle discursive dynamic shifts in large collections of (temporal) textual data. Alongside the methodological contributions, my dissertation is discourse-centered and focused on the global financial crisis and it reveals patterns of discourse, subtle dynamic shifts of discursive practices at different stages of the crisis, and dominant topics at the level of three discourses.

*This research has been funded by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) under the NWO-Aspasia 015-007-047 grant awarded to Dr. Iina Hellsten.