Andreas Jungherr

Dr. Andreas Jungherr was Juniorprofessor (Assistant Professor) for Social Science Data Collection and Analysis at the University of Konstanz, Germany (2016-2020).  Before his position in Konstanz, Jungherr was a Post-Doc at the Chair for Political Psychology at the University of Mannheim (2014-6) and a PhD student at the Chair for Political Sociology at the University of Bamberg (2009-14).

He examines the impact of digital media on politics and society. He has worked on the uses of digital media and technology by publics, political actors, and organizations in international comparison. He also addresses challenges for scientific research in reaction to digital change in order to realize opportunities emerging from new data sources and analytical approaches. In this, he has focused on harnessing the potential of digital methods and computational social science while addressing methodological challenges in its integration into the social sciences. Depending on the object under study, he also uses traditional quantitative and qualitative empirical approaches.

Currently, he is lead investigator of Communicative Power in Hybrid Media Systems, a project financed by the Volkswagen Stiftung. The interdisciplinary project, featuring computer and information scientists, focuses on the interconnection between political coverage in legacy and online media in Germany, UK, USA, and South Korea.

He is author of the books Analyzing Political Communication with Digital Trace Data: The Role of Twitter Messages in Social Science Research (Springer: 2015) and Das Internet in Wahlkämpfen: Konzepte, Wirkungen und Kampagnenfunktionen (with Harald Schoen, Springer VS: 2013). His forthcoming book Retooling Politics: How Digital Media are Shaping Democracy (with Gonzalo Rivero and Daniel Gayo-Avello) will be published by Cambridge University Press in 2019. Jungherr’s articles have appeared in Journal of Communication, Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, Review of International Political Economy, Party Politics, The International Journal of Press/Politics, Politische Vierteljahresschrift, Social Science Computer Review, Journal of Information Technology & Politics, Zeitschrift für Parlamentsfragen, and Internationale Politik.

At the Universities of Konstanz, Mannheim, Zurich, Bamberg, Luzern, and the Zeppelin University he has taught courses on Technological Innovation and Political Change, The Internet in Political Communication, Comparative Political Communication, Political Psychology, Electoral Behavior, Digital Trace Data in Social Science, and Introduction to Research Practices in Political Science.

Jungherr is a regular speaker at international conferences, be it in the social sciences or computer science. He has presented papers at the APSA Annual Meeting, CHI, CIKM, ECPR General Conference, ECPR Joint Sessions, EPSA Annual Meeting, HICSS, ICA Annual Conference, ICWSM, MPSA Annual Conference, the Oxford Internet Institute, the University of Illinois at Chicago, and Wellesley College. He is also a regular speaker at conferences addressing a general audience, such as re:publica, reCampaign, or the Personal Democracy Forum Europe.

Jungherr and his work are regularly featured in international media coverage. He has offered assessments on the use of digital tools and data analysis in political campaigns, political communication in general, and the social and political potential of big data and computational social science.

His work has been covered by The Atlantic, The Guardian, Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ), Newsweek, Reuters, The Washington Post, Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR), and others. He has written guest pieces for Spiegel Online and Der Tagesspiegel and given interviews for 3sat, Cicero, Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa), Deutschlandfunk, Deutschlandradio Wissen, Südwestrundfunk (SWR), and Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR). Jungherr has been quoted in pieces by Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR), Bild, CNN, Deutsche Welle, Deutschlandfunk, Financial Times Deutschland, Handelsblatt, New Scientist, The New York Times, Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR), Politico, Politik & Kommunikation, Der SPIEGEL, Der Tagesspiegel, Die Welt, Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR), and others.