Assessment 1. Final Project, SSEA 106A/B

Overview

Your final project for SSEA CS106A/B will be to analyze an Internet search or autocomplete to show that search engines and other online tools have concering issues when dealing with bias in their results.

This is a group project (2-3 people per group), and you will do a deep dive into a topic you choose that demonstrates biases.

Presentations

We will have presentations from 1pm-3pm on Thursday, September 1, 2022. Presentations will be short (under five minutes), and every person in the group should have some presentation time.

We will spend Friday coming up with groups and brainstorming ideas, and then next week (Monday and Wednesday) you will have time to work with your groups to do your investigation and create your presentations.

Details

  • Choose a search engine, or text autocomplete tool, or a website that collects data (e.g., on a form) that you or people you know interact with on a regular basis. Perform an audit of the tool(s) using methods we tried in class. For your report:
  • Write a paragraph introducing the theme of your explorations: what were you trying to find and where were you looking? What motivated you to choose this theme?
  • Include several screenshots showing what you found. For each, write a caption explaining what we're seeing and what it means.
  • Write a concluding paragraph explaining how the tool might differentially impact vulnerable, marginalized, or minoritized populations. What is the significance of what you found?
  • In class, you'll have a few minutes to present your findings, so you'll probably want your report to be in a form that facilitates that presentationā€“either a Google doc with captions large enough to read on a Zoom screen and a presentation-like flow as you scroll through, or write it up in Google Slides/Powerpoint form.

Sample Questions to ask (you should come up with more!)

If you are analyzing a website that collects data:

  • What information does this tool collect from users via forms? How easy is it to use the forms? Are there any vulnerable, marginalized, or minoritized populations who might be differentially impact by the design of this tool's forms?
  • What information does this tool reveal about users to others? How easy is it to control what is revealed? Are there any vulnerable, marginalized, or minoritized populations who might be differentially impact by the design of this tool's user data disclosure?

If you are analyzing a search engine or autocomplete web page:

  • When the data from your search appeared, what was your first thought?
  • What do you think should be done about these kinds of results?
  • If you could hand-pick results, what would you show?