Dear collegues - just an update on the conference and research course on ethical and methodological perspectives on doing Internet-research that we are arranging in Trondheim, Norway, 1. - 6. of June (the conference/workshop is on the 1st and 2nd, and the research course from the 3rd to the 6th). The events are in particular aimed at Nordic researchers and students, butof course we warmly welcome everyone (and the conference language is English). I'd highly appreaciate it if you would help me spread it around to people who'd be interested in participating! (May I also add that there will be opportunities to mingle with the European royal elite - or oppose against it, whatever suits best - as our princess will be marrying in Trondheim the same week-end..) Thanks :) All the best, Janne Bromseth, NTNU/Norway ************* Making Common Ground: methodological and ethical challenges in Internet research A Nordic conferance and work-shop in Trondheim, Norway, June 1st and 2nd 2002 The conference will gather primarily nordic researchers and students from the humanistic and social scientific disciplines working with internet-generated material, in order to enlighten and discuss the many methodological and ethical challenges raised by researching the Internet. The conference is also the first part of a graduate course 3. - 6. of June, on Internet and ethics: (see http://www.hf.ntnu.no/fil/anvendt_etikk/eng/internet_ethics.htm for course program) The plenary lectures will adress theoretical and practical aspects the ethical challenges posed by research in net-mediated contexts. Among the questions to be discussed: - When is it necessary to obtain consent for researching net-mediated group interaction, and how can it be done? - How can net-mediated spheres be defined: are they public or private, and what methodological and ethical consequences do a certain definition imply? - The ethics of internet research in a cross-cultural perspective - Conflicts between methodology and ethics in internet research The conference will provide a unique opprtunity for researchers engaged in internet research to present and discuss their work. There will be work-shops organised around a number of themes, based on the submitted abstracts of presentations, for example: - Online etnography and participant observation - Conducting interviews and doing surveys online - Documentary analysis: Studying web-archives and web-pages For program, registration and practical information, see our web-page: http://www.huminf.uib.no/%7Edagelg/CommonGround/ Deadline for submission on presentation proposal is April 15th. Janne C.H.Bromseth Department of Communication, UiC 1007 W Harrison St, Chicago,IL 60607 312-4135497 (w) 773-9290977 (h) URL: http://www.hf.ntnu.no/itk/kv_bromseth/bromseth-index.htm