On Google

Introduction

In this first part we want to investigate in which dimensions the controversy is developed, which topics are used to support the different positions and have an initial overview on the general theme of milk and the possible arguments related to it.

To answer, we started asking in the more common searching engine on the net, Google Search. We use just one query as much generic as possible, to have, as results, all the possible points of views on the controversy and see which one is more relevant and discussed.

Protocol

The starting point has been a Google search with the query milk good or bad, using the incognito mode in Google Chrome. In the settings of google.com/ncr, the instant is removed and the results are increased to 50. The first 50 links are exported with Moz, an extension of Google Chrome.

These are read one by one and scheduled in a dataset, on the basis of the motivations why the actors of the controversy are pro or cons the consumption of pasteurized cow’s milk. The emerging motivations are: Nutrients, Diseases, Intolerance, Allergy, Hormones, Chemical Agents, Body Good and Psychology, that are grouped in Health, Livestock Practice, Water Waste and Climate Change, that are grouped in Ethical Treatment of Animals, and Alternative Milk.

How to read it

On the left side you can see the three different topics that stand out from the research. On the top there are the various positions on the web on drinking cows’ milk. There are the three traditional ones, pro, neutral and cons, but we choose to introduce two halfway positions: pro with criticism and cons with criticism, because someone adds to his arguments notes or advises that can’t make them completely lined up.

Findings

Watching this graph, it’s clear that the warmer topic on the discussion is the one about health and the balance between the two opposite parts confirms it.

In the graph below you can see all the topics that are part of the big category of health and how much and how they are discussed. In the next paragraph we will examine them excluding only allergy and psychology, as less relevant because there are no extreme part speaking about them.

Data

Timestamp: 17/11/2015

Data source: Google

Download data (53KB) - Google 50

Download data (2KB) - Health Motivation