wow Chris Heidelberg totally opposite my work place where any respondent information disclosed means a possible 5000 dollar fine for me and a possible ten years n jail. I work for Statistics Canada. everything in aggregate nothing disclosed. and consent is basically legally required mean you can not refuse to participate. these above comments are not official and only me talking informally on an email list and I in no way can represent my employer in my own words Peter Timusk B.Math(2002) BA (2006) Tel: 001-613-729-8328 Community Informatics Practitioner Email: ptimusk@sympatico.ca Yahoo ID: crystal_computing Skype ID: peter.timusk ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Nothing I write is intended to be representative of my employer, or our clients. Nor do I alone speak for my unions. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Feel free to learn more about me at www.crystalcomputing.net Computer ethics studies at www.webpagex.org blogs http://logbook.crystalcomputing.net <- computers http://notebook.webpagex.org <- school work On 18-Dec-07, at 7:32 PM, Heidelberg, Chris wrote:
I sent cover letters with consent forms; I used my iPod as an audio recorder; I used my professional Canon XL camera to video tape consent; I used text messaging; I used Facebook; I used my weblogs; and I used electronic mail too to demonstrate the many ways that edutainment and convergence could be utilized. At the end of the day, the combination of email interviews, audio and video conversations; and the blogs were utilized for both consent and verification of all interviews and follow-up conversations.
I utilized multiple online sources to publish my data with advanced consent of my subjects for my qualitative study, and my subjects required that I use their identities because they were media professionals in multiple cities. I utilize video and audio interviews, but everything revolved around the convergence of the Internet where I sent all questions, received responses, conducted interviews, made follow up calls, and clarified all responses via email before posting my results.
In fact, my entire dissertation was based on open sourced research, so anonymity was not an issue for my study. As a producer, writer and director, I am used to using anonymity for certain types of stories but my case study was also very ethnographic in nature and the subjects were made aware that the research would be open from the beginning. This type of study may have been more difficult for folks who do not work in the media industry but my subjects had no problem speaking on camera or via the Internet.
My topic was Edutainment & Convergence: How Can Entertainment Techniques and Technology Be Utilized In Higher Education From The Perspective Of Entertainment Professionals.
You can check out the summary of the findings in a few weeks. I am celebrating the holidays, but the research will continue. This thing snowballed and now I new potential subjects finding me because I work in the business.