Communication

Yi Grace Ji

Assistant Professor, Mass Communication, Advertising, and Public Relations

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Potential for UROP Funding

Overview

Are you curious about how major corporations communicate about public health crises? Do you enjoy analyzing social media content and uncovering deeper insights about messages, emotions, and public opinion? Are you interested in misinformation, strategic communication, or trying out early versions of LLM-assisted research tools? If so, we invite you to join a research project with real-world implications.

About the project:
Led by Dr. Y. Grace Ji (Media Science, Boston University), this project examines how Fortune 500 companies practice corporate social responsibility (CSR) across major online platforms during public health crises. We analyze whether corporate messages are fact-based, emotionally charged, or grounded in moral foundations, and explore how these communication strategies shape public opinion and online discourse. This study also supports the development of an LLM-assisted tool for detecting misinformation and evaluating message quality.

Your role as a research assistant:
– Work closely with a research team studying CSR and online communication.
– Receive training in content analysis, misinformation typologies, and strategic communication frameworks.
– Manually code social media messages using a structured codebook.
– Maintain coding logs and participate in reliability checks.
– Attend weekly or biweekly check-in meetings.
– Share feedback contributing to the design of a prototype LLM-assisted misinformation analysis tool.

Position details:
– Part-time: up to 5 hours per week (depending on funding).
– Eligible for UROP funding.
– Flexible schedule.
– Potential for continued involvement in research papers, posters, or conference submissions

What we are looking for:
– Strong attention to detail and consistency.
– Interest in strategic business communication, digital media, public health, or social science research.
– Ability to work independently and meet weekly goals.
– No technical experience required; familiarity with R, Python, or content analysis is a plus.