Hi Kat, I some articles that treat the issue of using a blog as part of the research are: Takhteyev, Y., & Hall, J. (2005, 14-15 mayo). Blogging Together: Digital Expression in a Real-Life Community. Paper presented at the Social Software in the Academy Workshop, University of Southern California Annenberg Center. Blogging Thoughts (pdf) Torill Mortensen and Jill Walker: "Blogging thoughts: personal publication as an online research tool," in: Researching ICTs in Context, ed. Andrew Morrison, InterMedia Report, 3/2002, Oslo 2002 http://www.intermedia.uio.no/konferanser/skikt-02/docs/Researching_ICTs_in_c... Efimova, L. (2004, 2-3 de abril). Discovering the iceberg of knowledge work: A weblog case. Paper presented at the Fifth European Conference on Organizational Knowledge, Learning and Capabilities (OKLC04), Innsbruck (Austria). https://doc.telin.nl/dscgi/ds.py/Get/File-34786 I myself am using a blog as part of a ethnography of blogs and bloggers. While some researchers have approach the blog as a field diary (a few researchers and pH D. students have tried that in Spain) I think that it is not possible for different issues, the main one the privacy and respect to your informants. In my research design I pointed to three different issues arguing in favour of using a blog as part of my fieldwork: (i) for orienting the research, learning the same practices of bloggers, (ii) for gaining credibility and building rapport among bloggers, and (iii) as a way for observing the ethics obligations of the research, declaring my presence in the field. After 12 months I can say that not only the three objectives have been accomplished but my blog have been an invaluable artefact for establishing and maintaining relationships in the field. However, it is not easy: it is highly time consuming (as many other activities in ethnography) and you, as a researcher, are highly exposed. People are able to question you and to ask for explanation in any moment, indeed, I have been involve in a few hot debates that have been initiated by other bloggers and readers. The position of the ethnographer can be hotly contested, I have been questioned and I have been force to give explanations (a kind of explanations that I would have never been force to give if I had not written a blog). In that way, the blog is a risky artefact in the fieldwork, but I am complete convinced that in my research I would have not been to get access to some kind of people and I had hardly get aware of certain kind of practices of blogger if I had not written a blog. If you want to discuss it in large you can write to my email. Regards adolfo Message: 7
Date: Sat, 21 Apr 2007 12:51:21 +0100 (BST) From: sop01kj@gold.ac.uk Subject: [Air-l] Methodological research around blogs To: air-l@listserv.aoir.org Message-ID: <58627.83.146.14.199.1177156281.squirrel@secure2.gold.ac.uk> Content-Type: text/plain;charset=iso-8859-1
Hi everyone
We are researchers at Goldsmiths and associated with INCITE (www.studioincite.com). We're interested in how blogs are being used for social research and have found blogs such as http://becomingananthropologist.blogspot.com/ but very little explicit discussion about blogs as a methodological tool. One exception is Kris Cohen?s work and his article in Media, Culture and Society - http://www.photosleavehome.blogspot.com/ - and Adam Reed?s work - http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/anthropology/staffprofiles/reed.htm
Does anyone have any recommendations or references which might be helpful in trying to find out if there is any methodological research around blogs or photoblogs as ways of collecting data from participants or acting as fieldwork/visual diaries? And are there any other research groups interested in this?
Many thanks Kat Jungickel - PhD Student, Sociology Dept Vicky Skiftou - Academic researcher, Sociology Dept v.skiftou@gold.ac.uk, 0207 9197484
-- Adolfo Estalella (http://www.estalella.es) http://estalella.wordress.com http://somia.wordpress.com Ph D. Knowledge Society Program Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (http://www.uoc.edu) Phone: 00 34 936 735 077 Fax: 0034 936 641 970 Mail: jestalellaf@uoc.edu / adolfoestalella@gmail.com Internet Interdisciplinary Institute (IN3) Parc Mediterrani de la Tecnologia Av. Canal Olímpic s/n, Edifici B3 08860 Castelldefels (Barcelona) Spain