Measuring Event Diffusion Momentum (EDM): Applications in Social Movement Research ¹

Abstract

Measuring the diffusion of protests, or more generally, the diffusion of events, is an ongoing task in social sciences. This paper proposes an inter-event approach to study what types of protests tend to diffuse or decline. We develop a standardized, five-step procedure to measure what we define as “event diffusion momentum” (EDM): (1) employ event-based data containing information on the time, location, and features of each protest; (2) define the temporal and spatial ranges of interest; (3) for each observation, count the number of events before and after it within the defined ranges; (4) predict the numbers of post-event and pre-event protests with appropriate count models; (5) calculate the ratios of predicted values for each predictor and confidence intervals using the delta method. The ratio is the EDM. Applying this method to Dynamics of Collective Action (DoCA) data, we identify several micro- and macro-level factors associated with protest diffusion in the United States, 1960–1995. We conclude with the implications and generalizability of the proposed method.

Citation

Zhang, T.H. and Cai, T. (2023), "Measuring Event Diffusion Momentum (EDM): Applications in Social Movement Research ¹ ", Maher, T.V. and Schoon, E.W. (Ed.) Methodological Advances in Research on Social Movements, Conflict, and Change (Research in Social Movements, Conflicts and Change, Vol. 47), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 215-238. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0163-786X20230000047010