k.tharp@cqu.edu.au On May 9, 2004, at 8:39 PM, Kevin Tharp wrote:
For the sake of furthering the ethics discussion: How would you proceed with an investigation of the conversations that people have using mobile phones in public places such as the bus or train. This is a situation where lines of public and private are blurred as one sided presentations of sometimes very private conversations are performed on what can be a very public stage.
Well . . . the LEGALITY of the issue varies by state (in the USA). Some states permit recording of talk that is held in public places that is publicly available to in-view hearers. Other states forbid recording private conversations under any circumstances, without prior permission. As for the ethics of it: Why would paying attention to the details of such talk be any more an infringement than is being forced to listen to it in the first place? What would happen if each time that a cell phone user comes into my presence, I start to shout "you are invading my private space and privacy rights by forcing me to listen to your conversation. I insist that you stop speaking loudly enough for me to hear immediately or I'm going to call the police!" I think they'd rather that I turn on my tape recorder and shut up. I've always let the test be that I, as researcher, am out in the open in the plain view of the subject. If they are speaking loudly enough that I can hear without any special equipment, or effort, I treat the conversation as public talk freely available for analysis (and recording). In the case of the cell phone, I am not "tapping" the phone call illegally cause I can't hear the other side of the conversation. There are, however, state laws to deal with . . . and those attenuate my research behavior. Edward Lee Lamoureux, Ph. D. Director, Multimedia Program and New Media Center Associate Professor, Speech Communication 1501 W. Bradley Bradley University Peoria IL 61625 309-677-2378 http://hilltop.bradley.edu/~ell http://gcc.bradley.edu/mm/