From the womb to the tomb: Conceptual similarities in studying the youngest and the oldest of audiences

This chapter discusses big data in audience research. It also begins with an attempt to align big data within social sciences and audience research. The chapter discusses the potential of big data, the risks and the limitations of large data-driven research. Moreover, concerning audience research, big data research can be described as highly tantalizing, given that it seems to promise easy access to large studies simply because all the data are available through social media. Research with large data records represents a promising approach particularly in internet research. According to Welker and Matzat, internet research can be divided into two main areas: internet research as a research instrument, that is sociological research realized through the internet and, second, internet research as a research object per se. The circular arrows depict the mutual influence of the two dimensions: big data as a research object and as a research instrument and apparatus.