How Search Engines Speak – a Foucauldian Framework for SERPs as Epistemological Actants

A practical workshop bridging the gap between information studies and social sciences

Overview

This workshop's purpose is to bridge a gap between information studies and social sciences. It proposes a theory-grounded (Foucault) framework for researching search engines' outputs as statements, thereby paving the way for search result analysis through discourse analysis.

The definition of a sentence/utterance will be proposed, based on the characteristics of the SERP's design, as a semantic and visual unit of meaning, generated in response to a user's query, containing a specific hierarchy of sources and interface affordances.

During the workshop, the analysis of data collected from Google and Bing will be presented. Attendees will also collect live data using one of three simple methods, followed by a discussion to test the concept of seeing search engine results as statements.

Who should attend

Researchers and students in information studies and information retrieval who want to see beyond their discipline, as well as those eager to support sociologists in researching modern information systems and the change they bring to societies. Also journalists, publicists, or NGO representatives interested in epistemology in the digital age. The workshop provides the conceptual apparatus to write and talk about knowledge and power.

What you'll learn

• An innovative conceptual framework for search engine research, offering new ideas for query methods (for IS/IR researchers) and practical knowledge of Google and Bing SERP elements and affordances (for social scientists)
• Hands-on experience in conducting digital ethnography, treating the search engine not as pure technology but as an actant, as defined by Actor-Network Theory
• Insights into the various linguistic and geographical versions of search engines, through the workshop's practical component

Schedule

Presenter

Citation

Kozłowska, K. (2026). How Search Engines Speak – a Foucauldian Framework for SERPs as Epistemological Actants. [Conference presentation]. SEASON 2026, Hamburg, Germany.