Announcement of Pre-Conference Workshop <<< >>> Qualitative Research Methods <<<
AOIR 5.0 Internet Research Conference, Sussex, UK Saturday, September 18, 2004, 2:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. QUALITATIVE RESEARCH METHODS: This Pre-Conference workshop is designed to enable participants to work through common yet complex issues related to the qualitative study of Internet-related phenomena. At the workshop, five highly qualified but very different experts in the broad field of Internet Studies will lead discussion sessions. The topics of these sessions will be derived from the participants themselves, who will submit their questions a few weeks in advance of the workshop (see below for details). Broadly speaking, the focus of this workshop is the study of the Internet or ICT (rather than how to use internet-related technologies to facilitate traditional research).
Workshop Facilitators <<<
Nancy Baym, Ph. D., University of Kansas, USA http://www.people.ku.edu/~nbaym/ Annette Markham, Ph. D., University of Illinois at Chicago, USA http://ascend.comm.uic.edu/~amarkham/ Christine Hine, Ph. D., University of Surrey, UK http://www.soc.surrey.ac.uk/christine_hine.htm Lori Kendall, Ph. D., SUNY, Purchase College http://www.ucpress.edu/books/pages/9474.html Shani Orgad, Ph. D., London School of Economics, UK http://www.lse.ac.uk/people/s.s.orgad@lse.ac.uk/
How to Participate <<<
Participation is on a first-come, first-serve basis. Interested participants should register for this workshop as they register for the AOIR conference in general. http://aoir.org/2004/
Rationale <<<
Although many of us use the label "qualitative" to describe our methods, our choices and practices vary considerably due to differences in disciplinary training, experiences, theoretical frameworks and worldviews, the research questions we are asking, and the type of phenomena we're studying. Many disciplines and universities offer only limited, if any, training in qualitative research, particularly related to internet research. As a result, many Internet researchers remain unsure how to conduct or evaluate quality research in this area. The diverse scholars brought together for this pre-conference workshop will encourage a broader understanding of qualitative inquiry that may offer a fuller range of methodological choices for participants.
Submitting Questions <<<
Each registered participant should submit one question he or she would like to have addressed during the workshop, accompanied by a brief explanation of the context within which his or her question is situated. Questions should be submitted by email no later than September 1, 2004 to either Nancy Baym (nbaym@ku.edu) or Annette Markham (amarkham@gmail.com). Workshop leaders will use these questions to build workshop sessions. During the workshop, participants and workshop facilitators will address the practical, theoretical, political, and/or ethical issues involved in answering the question. Dialogue about these issues within the workshop is intended to illustrate the complexity of methodological decision making during the course of rigorous qualitative study. If you have further questions, please feel free to contact Annette or Nancy.