University of Wisconsin-Madison

Homework Assignment #9 : Due Wed 12/8

The purpose of this assignment is to learn more how the terms that people search for using web search engines reflects (and even predicts!) what is happening in our world.

For this assignment, you should explore either Google Trends or Google Insights for Search to see what terms people have been searching for. You should compare the search activity for some set of related words across some period of time and write a short (approximately one-page) essay about your findings.

Finding Suitable Search Terms

We recommend that you start by going to the Trends and Insights web pages. Both of them give a good number of suggested search terms to compare.

For example, the Trends page might recommend you compare the terms "equinox, full moon, solstice". When you type in those terms, you will see a graph showing the relative popularity of those search terms over time. You might find these search terms interesting because their popularity has a strong correlation with what is happening in the real world: people tend to search for "full moon" when we are near a full moon, and "solstice" when we are near the solstice. Thus, you will see there is a periodic nature to the popularity of each search term that matches the real world.

The Trends web page will let you focus in on different time ranges and different parts of the world and shows which terms are most popular in different states and cities in the U.S.

Likewise, the Insights web page gives an overview of why you might want to use it as well as some example queries. You can compare search volume patterns across specific regions, categories, time frames and properties. For example, you can compare how the term "ski" is searched for in two different Locations: Australia and Switzerland. You will see that each has a seasonal behavior where skiing is popular in each of their winters. You can also compare the relative popularity of the two: more people ski in Switzerland than Australia.

You should pick some subject than you are interested in and see how searches for related terms have varied over time. For example, you could compare the popularity of searching for different sports teams, music groups, products, companies, political concerns, or world events. You can pick anything you like.

If you pick a subject that you have some additional knowledge of, you will likely find it easier to interpret the resulting data (e.g., if you are investigating the popularity of the New England Patriots, you will be able to connect the many searches for that term in 2003 with winning the SuperBowl). You will notice that Google Trends is sometimes able to automatically identify events in the News that occurred at the same time; these events will be explicitly marked on the graphs.

You should compare between three and five search terms that are related to your topic (e.g., comparing searches for the words Obama, Biden, McCain, Palin would give you four search terms all related to the 2008 Presidential Election).

Content of your Essays

You should write a short essay describing what you found. Your essay should include the following points:

1. Whether you are using Google Trends or Google Insights for Search. You should specify the exact query you gave to retrieve your results (e.g., the search terms, the locations, and the time frame). You should describe how your search terms are related (i.e., the overall subject you are investigating).
2. The graph that was produced. You can just print out the web page and append it to your report if that is easiest.
3. An objective description of the relative popularity of the search terms. For example, what is the relative ordering of popularity of the search terms? How much more popular is one term than another?
4. An objective description of the popularity of the search terms over time. Is there any seasonal or regular, periodic nature to the popularity of the search times? Is the popularity of these search terms increasing or decreasing over time? Has the relative popularity of the terms changed at all over time? Are there distinct moments in time when the popularity of the search term has abruptly increased or decreased?
5. A subjective discussion about the relative popularity of the search terms and their popularity over time. Why do you think some of the terms are more popular than others? How does searching for each term correlate with what is going on in the real world? What information from the other sources do you have to back up your speculations? What world events correspond to any observed peaks in search popularity?

Turning in Your Essays

You can either bring a print-out of your essay to class the day it is due or turn it in using Learn@UW.