Validating the FOCUS Model Through an Analysis of Identity Fragmentation in Nigerian Social Media
Abstract
Data-driven validation of the FOCUS model's capacity to predict the dynamics of social identity group (SIG) formation would allow the project to confirm the validity of the theoretical mechanisms encoded in the model. However, such efforts are currently inhibited by both an absence of high-resolution geo-spatially registered SIG data that could be systematically compared to the model's predictions. A spatial-temporal map of identity fragmentation in social media discourse would provide an ideal empirical target for FOCUS, allowing FOCUS to leap-frog competing projects which lack empirically validated, predictive capabilities, and consequently fail to satisfy the promise of generating believable probability distributions over the potential outcomes of operations intended to stabilize a region. This project, as a proof of concept, attempts to lay the foundation for the use of social media data to identify social variables that can be used to model acts of collective violence in Nigeria that can later be used to validate the FOCUS model.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 01, 2015
- Accession Number
- ADA627071
Entities
People
- Adam Haupt
- Camber Warren
Organizations
- United States Army Training and Doctrine Command