Methodology
This is not a messaging guide. It is meant to provide a high-level overview of conversations around trans athletes and trans participation in sports.
We conduct narrative research on established, emerging, dominant and trending narratives, both at large and inside specific networks. We also look for narrative voids — places where there is an absence of coherent stories that add up to a clear narrative. Our research tracks volume and velocity trends, conversational patterns, stories, content and messages, and network influencers across time, platforms and channels. We meticulously dissect content (news articles, social media content, websites, broadcast news and entertainment, podcasts, forums and more) to identify embedded messages, story and character archetypes, and their underlying ideas, values and beliefs. We use a combination of CrowdTangle analytics, Zignal Labs, and detailed individual on-and offline analysis of keywords and conversations.
We do this work in partnership with other leaders and organizations, refining our narrative research and content analysis through bidirectional learning loops. Navigating narrative space is never an easy task — for this report, we examined conversation trends, volume, and velocity over the course of 23 months in English. Our general research window was from January 1, 2021–January 23, 2023. The findings of this report represent trends and patterns we identified over the course of our analysis.
Glossary
NARRATIVE A collection or system of related stories that are articulated and refined over time to represent a central idea or belief. (Narrative Initiative)
STORY A particular series of events that occur in a particular place and time and often contain structural archetypes such as a protagonist, a problem, a path, and a payoff. Stories bring deeper narratives to life by making them relatable, accessible, and even personal.
VALUES Commonly held beliefs. They are not always partisan. Values can inform ideology and narrative, and vice versa.
CONVERSATIONS Categories of keywords related to a particular topic that are monitored in real time using big listening technology. We track conversations to analyze the exchange of content, including messages, stories, information, ideas and opinions.
NETWORK A way of describing and visualizing social relationships. Networks describe how different people are connected, how strong their ties are and how different networks are connected to each other. Networks are NOT just how people are connected online. They include relationships and connections that bridge people together in real life.
INFLUENCER An individual in the narrative ecosystem who shapes conversations on and offline. While some influencers may have public name recognition, follower counts can vary. They are individuals who are seen as trustworthy representatives of their community, with a robust offline network to match their online presence.
MOOD The emotional response an author or creator’s content evokes in their audience. Emotional responses allow audiences to connect with a story, making it meaningful and memorable. Emotional responses vary depending on the audience.
TONE The attitude an author or creator conveys in a story, its subject matter or its audience. An author's tone may reflect their personal attitude or opinion about a story. Different audiences read and respond to tone differently.
MISINFORMATION Information that is false or inaccurate, spread unknowingly and without intent to harm.
DISINFORMATION Information that is deliberately false or misleading, often spread for political gain, profit, or to discredit an individual, group, movement, political party or foreign government.
HOW TO READ OUR CHARTS
There are several kinds of charts in this report that represent the volume of conversations over time. Visualized data is static and does not update in real time. These charts are time bound snapshots of data compiled from single keywords, curated keyword sets, and/or issue filters. This data supports interpreting, comparing and forecasting how conversations, and the narratives that undergird them, move over time.
This report also includes visualizations of networks and accounts participating in particular conversations. These charts are time bound snapshots that demonstrate where there are connections - or lack of connection - between different accounts on Twitter by retweeted authors. Clusters in these images typically indicate coordination and relationships within a conversation, while more dispersed images suggest less coordinated networks. The visualized data is static and does not update in real time.
ReFrame uses Zignal Labs, alongside other big listening tools to support our narrative research and action. The charts in this report represent data parameters built by ReFrame’s narrative research and action team within this tool.
- VOLUME Volume represents the number of mentions of a given issue over time. Volume analysis provides insight into which conversations have the greatest volume, when volume is consistent, or when and how it varies. We compare volume across conversations to better understand their salience and how they interact with each other.
- SPIKES Spikes refer to the peaks on a given chart where volume increases rapidly. Spikes are typically influenced by a dominant story or flashpoint moment that we can identify.
- KEYWORD A keyword refers to a single word, phrase, or hashtag that can be used to search and find content related to a given story or conversation.
- KEYWORD SETS Keyword sets are a group of keywords compiled to search, find and aggregate content related to a given conversation. Keyword sets can be simple (ex: Defund the police, #DefundThePolice) or complex (ex: including hundreds of people, places, words, and hashtags related to policing, abolition, and reform). We typically use simple keyword sets to understand emerging issues or specific conversations. We use complex keyword sets to listen to conversations broadly and at scale.
- QUIET Quiet refers to conversations and/or stories operating at a lower volume relative to other conversations in the narrative ecosystem.
- LOUD Loud refers to conversations and/or stories operating at a higher volume relative to other conversations in the narrative ecosystem.
Contributors
Andrade
STRATEGIST
CHAER
SENIOR RESEARCH ASSOCIATE
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
FICKES
COPY EDITOR
HENDERSON
DESIGNER
HORWITZ
Athlete
LGBTQ+ Educator
HYNES
PROGRAM MANAGER
JACKSON
PROGRAM MANAGER
OSAGHAE
COORDINATOR
RHYNE
SENIOR ADVISOR
ST. LOUIS
COORDINATOR
WHaLeN
DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS CONSULTANT
FORMER ATHLETE
About This is Signals
Signals is a visionary project fueled by wit, imagination, fortitude, and caffeine. We ingest, digest, and dissect social, cultural, and political conversations of the moment and across time and space. We use the hard skills of grassroots organizing and strategic communications, the thinking of designers and futurists, the technology of big listening, and the wisdom of our ancestors. Signals is brought to you by ReFrame.
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