<fontfamily><param>Times_New_Roman</param><bigger><bigger>Call for
papers to

<bold><bigger>Making Common Ground: Methodological and Ethical issues
in doing Internet research

</bigger></bold>Nordic interdisciplinary conference and workshop at
NTNU (Norwegian University of Science and Technology), Trondheim,
Norway, 1. - 2. of June 2002


After a good decade of humanistic and social scientific research on
Internet-mediated contexts, the first phase of 'trying and failing' has
established valuable knowledge not only in relation to the medium and
its users, but parallell to this, on'doing internet research:
methodological issues related to the research processes themselves. We
are just now developing and negotiating an understanding of 'best
practises', based on the experiences from the growing number of studies
carried out. An important issue related to these processes is research
ethical perspectives of diverse approaches to studying the Internet and
its social activities: are our existing ethical guidelines adaptable to
researching the new mediated 'semi-public' contexts - or are more
specified and new ehtical guidelines required? 


The aim of the conference is to 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, as well as creating networks. Additionally, <italic>the
conference will be followed up by a research course 3. - 6. of June, on
the same topics, arranged by Program for applied ethics at NTNU
</italic>(more detailed information on both events will follow
shortly). The <bold>key-note speakers</bold> are:


Dr Charles Ess, Drury University, USA (ethics and technology) 

</bigger></bigger></fontfamily>http://www.drury.edu/ess/ess.html

<fontfamily><param>Times_New_Roman</param><bigger><bigger>Dr Chris
Mann, University of Cambridge, England (methodological issues in
researching internet contexts):
http://www.sps.cam.ac.uk/stafflist/cmann.html

Dr Annette Markham, University of Illinois at Chicago, USA (online
ethnography and qualitative methodology)

Dr Dag Elgesem, University of Bergen, Norway (research ethics and
information technology): http://www.hf.uib.no/hi/webkultur/elgesem.htm


They will during the plenary sessions adress both principal as well as
the practical implications of researching net-mediated contexts, with
our existing ethical guidelines as a point of departure, to look at
e.g: how can informants´ privacy be protected? 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 definiton imply?

Several of the speakers are members of the ethical board of the
international and interdisciplinary organisation Association of
Internet Researchers (AoIR.)


The empirical experience posessed by researchers in this field is
crucial to discussing its principle sides, and because this will be a
unique opportunity to meet and learn from other collegues, a
<italic>big part of the conference is organized as topic divided
work-shops</italic>. The work-shops will, out from the submitted
abstracts of presentations, focus on discussion rather than the more
traditonal forms of paper-presentation. Participants are asked to
specify the work-shop they would like to participate in, and if and
what they would like to present about. Short summaries will be
distributed to the other participants in the group. The group
discussions will be lead by an experienced researcher in the field that
additionally will prepare comments to each presentation. Dependent on
the respons, work-shop topics may be altered.


<bold>Please specify the work-shop you would like participate in, as
well as attaching an abstract on approximately 350 words</bold>
describing the main issue you would like to present upon and contact
information (e-mail, phone, post adress). Deadline for submission of
abstracts is <bold>April 15th 2002. 


Workshop alternatives:

</bold>1) Online etnography and participant observation

2) Conducting interviews and doing surveys online

3) Documentary analysis: Studying web-archives and web-pages


Abstracts and questions can be sent to Janne Bromseth
(<underline><color><param>0000,0000,00FF</param>bromseth@uic.edu</color></underline>)
or Dag Elgesem
(<underline><color><param>0000,0000,00FF</param>dag.elgesem@hedb.uib.no</color></underline>)


The conference is sponsored by the University of Bergen, Department of
Interdisciplinary Studies of Culture, NTNU and NESH (The National
Committee for Research Ethics in the Social Sciences and the Humanities
in Norway) and arranged in cooperation with Program for applied ethics,
NTNU.


Welcome!


<bold><bigger>_________________

</bigger></bold>Program


<bold>Saturday June 1st:

</bold>10.00 - 10.15: Welcome


10.15 - 11.15: Plenary session: Dr Charles Ess, Philosophy and Religion
Department, Drury 

University and leader of Ethical Board of AoIR:

<italic> Internet studies and new ethical challenges - making common
ground in the international resarcher society?


</italic>11.15 - 11.30: Break


11.30 - 12.45: Plenary session: Dr Chris Mann, University of
Cambridge:


<italic>Internet Communication and Internet Research


</italic>12.45 - 13.30: Lunch break


13.30 - 14.45: Parallell workshops: 

1) Online etnography

2) Conducting interviews and doing surveys online

4) Documentary analysis: Studying web-archives and web-pages


14.45 - 15.00: Break


15.00 - 16.15: Workshops continued


16.15 - 16.30: Coffee break


16.30 - 17.30: Dr Anette Markham, Department of
Communication,University of Illinois at Chicago<italic>:

Changing with the times:  Context Sensitivity, flexible Adaptation, and
reflexive design in ethnographic inquiry.


</italic>Kl. 20.00: Dinner


<bold>Sunday 2nd of June: 

</bold>10.15 - 11.30: Plenary session: Dr Dag Elgesem, University of
Bergen and former member of NESH: 

<italic>Ethics revisited: Traditional research ethics and new ethical
challenges in reseraching internet contexts


</italic>11.30 - 11.45: Break


11.45 - 13.00: Workshops continued


13.00 - 13.45: Lunch break


13.45 - 15.00: Workshops continued


15.00 - 15.15: Break


15.15 - 16.30: Plenary session, panel debate: 

<italic>Internet research and ethical perspectives in Nordic cultural
contexts. Introductory presentations from researchers from Nordic
countries with following debate.

</italic>Dr Malin Sveningsson, Viktoria Institutet, Sverige, og medlem
av Ethical Committee of AoIR

PhD student Helge Ridderstroem, stipendiat, NTNU, Norge

PhD student Janne Bromseth, stipendiat, NTNU, Norge


16.30 - 17.00: Closing session: reports from workshops and future
challenges


</bigger></bigger></fontfamily> 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


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


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