Hypermedia and Ethnography: Reflections on the Construction of a Research Approach

1998 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bella Dicks ◽  
Bruce Mason
Keyword(s):  
Social Research ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Sequential Data ◽  
Ongoing Research ◽  
The Social ◽  
Data Organisation ◽  
Hypermedia Authoring ◽  
Object Of Study ◽  
Recent Attention

Current interest in ethnography within social research has focused on its potential to offer insights into the complexity of the social world. There have increasingly been calls for ethnography to reflect this complexity more adequately. Two aspects of ethnographic enquiry have been particularly singled out as areas in need of redefinition: the delineation of ethnography's object of study and its mode of presentation. Both of these areas are implicated in the recent attention to the possibilities of hypermedia authoring for ethnography. The paper offers a discussion of this potential in the light of an ongoing research project with which the authors are engaged. The project is designed to enable this potential to be assessed, and to provide for the construction of what the authors call an ethnographic hypermedia environment (EHE). We believe that the promise of hypermedia lies not only in its facility for non-sequential data organisation, but also in its ability to integrate data in different media. The synthesis of the visual, aural, verbal and pictorial planes of meaning holds considerable promise for the expansion and deepening of ethnographic knowledge. Consequently, we suggest that hypermedia has implications for all stages of the research process, and argue against the current tendency to see it as merely a tool either for analysis or for presentation. These arguments are illustrated by means of a commentary on some work in progress.

scholarly journals ¿Artesanía o cazador tras la huella?. Reflexiones para el análisis cualitativo de datos

2018 ◽  
pp. 65
Author(s):  
Daniel San Martín Cantero
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Social Research ◽  
Research Process ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Object Of Study ◽  
And Training

En las ciencias sociales se generan debates metodológicos que contribuyen a las formas de comprender la investigación social. En este ensayo se discute el modo de entender el rol del investigador frente a la aproximación y análisis del objeto/sujeto de estudio. El objetivo es cuestionar el uso de la metáfora del investigador como artesano. Esta imagen aparece en los años 50 para explicar la creatividad que requiere el proceso de investigación y análisis cualitativo de datos. Sin embargo, la metáfora del artesano representa una aproximación deductiva del investigador al sujeto/objeto de estudio. Por el contrario, el análisis cualitativo está orientado por procedimientos inductivos. Entonces, se propone la metáfora del cazador tras la presa, como un recurso con consistencia paradigmática y epistemológica que aporta a la comprensión y formación en investigación cualitativa.Within the social sciences, methodological debates contribute to the understanding of social research. This paper discusses one way of understanding the role of the investigator in relation to the approach and analysis of the object/subject of study. The objective is to question the use of the researcher's metaphor as a craftsman. This image appears in the 1950s in order to explain the creativity required by the research process and qualitative data analysis. However, the artisan's metaphor represents a deductive approximation of the researcher to the subject/object of study. On the contrary, the qualitative analysis is oriented by inductive procedures. The metaphor of the hunter after the prey is then proposed as a resource with a paradigmatic and epistemological consistency that contributes to the understanding and training in the qualitative research.

The Science and Art of Interviewing

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathleen Gerson ◽  
Sarah Damaske
Keyword(s):  
Social Research ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Social Contexts ◽  
Science And Art ◽  
The Social ◽  
Interview Guide ◽  
Hidden Patterns ◽  
User Friendly ◽  
Depth Interviews

Qualitative interviewing is one of the most widely used methods in social research, but it is arguably the least well understood. To address that gap, this book offers a theoretically rigorous, empirically rich, and user-friendly set of strategies for conceiving and conducting interview-based research. Much more than a how-to manual, the book shows why depth interviewing is an indispensable method for discovering and explaining the social world—shedding light on the hidden patterns and dynamics that take place within institutions, social contexts, relationships, and individual experiences. It offers a step-by-step guide through every stage in the research process, from initially formulating a question to developing arguments and presenting the results. To do this, the book shows how to develop a research question, decide on and find an appropriate sample, construct an interview guide, conduct probing and theoretically focused interviews, and systematically analyze the complex material that depth interviews provide—all in the service of finding and presenting important new empirical discoveries and theoretical insights. The book also lays out the ever-present but rarely discussed challenges that interviewers routinely encounter and then presents grounded, thoughtful ways to respond to them. By addressing the most heated debates about the scientific status of qualitative methods, the book demonstrates how depth interviewing makes unique and essential contributions to the research enterprise. With an emphasis on the integral relationship between carefully crafted research and theory building, the book offers a compelling vision for what the “interviewing imagination” can and should be.

scholarly journals [Application of Integrative Approaches in Current Islamic Law Studies: Gender Issue Analysis] Aplikasi Pendekatan Integratif dalam Kajian Hukum Islam Semasa: Analisis Isu Gender

2018 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-86
Author(s):  
Mohd Anuar Ramli ◽  
Ahmad Badri Abdullah ◽  
Muhammad Ikhlas Rosele
Keyword(s):  
Research Methods ◽  
Islamic Law ◽  
Social Research ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Integrative Approach ◽  
Gender Analysis ◽  
Analysis Method ◽  
Analysis Model ◽  
The Social ◽  
Islamic Jurisprudence

Islamic jurisprudence is a dynamic system. It is facilitated by some flexible methodologies. Nowadays, there are varieties of issues in Muslims’ societies that are results or implications of developments in science and technology, and also results of changes that happen in the structures of the societies. In order to face these realities, a contemporary integrative approach has to be applied in Islamic Law's research process. In accordance to this, this paper will elaborate the integrative approaches that try to unify and integrate theories in Islamic jurisprudence with social research methods. Basically, there are models that have been introduced by several Islamic thinkers that related to this integrative approach. For example the Islamization of sociology based on maslahah model, the Islamic Jurisprudence sociology model, the unified approach to textual and contextual analysis model. All of these models contain their own strength and weakness in their integrative approaches. This paper is trying to introduce an approach that integrates Islamic jurisprudence theories with the gender analysis method that is among social critics methods. This introduced method is to be used to analyze an issue in fiqh pertaining to polygamy that is always been debated nowadays and also to analyze the applicability of the practice in the social and contemporary conditions of our country. According to this research, social research methods are able to support Islamic jurisprudence in order to improve its research process and its results. Keywords: integrative approach, Islamic jurisprudence, social science, gender analysis, polygamy   Hukum Islam merupakan satu sistem dinamik yang dibangunkan berasaskan metodologi yang bersifat anjal. Pada hari ini, wujudnya pelbagai isu yang melanda masyarakat umat Islam kesan daripada perkembangan sains dan teknologi serta perubahan sosial yang berlaku dalam struktur masyarakat. Dalam usaha untuk berdepan dengan realiti ini, pendekatan integratif yang bersifat kontemporari perlu digunakan dalam proses penyelidikan hukum Islam. Justeru, artikel ini akan menjelaskan pendekatan integratif yang cuba menyatukan dan mengintegrasikan teori hukum Islam dengan kaedah penyelidikan sosial. Pada asasnya, terdapat model yang telah diperkenalkan oleh beberapa pemikir Islam berkaitan dengan pendekatan integratif ini. Sebagai contoh Islamisasi ilmu sosiologi berdasarkan model maslahah, model model sosiologi hukum Islam, model pendekatan bersepadu dalam analisis tekstual dan kontekstual. Semua model ini mengandungi kekuatan dan kelemahan dalam pendekatan integratif yang tersendiri. Lantaran itu, kajian ini cuba memperkenalkan satu pendekatan yang mengintegrasikan teori hukum Islam dengan kaedah analisis gender yang merupakan salah satu metodologi kritik sosial. Kaedah ini diperkenalkan untuk digunakan dalam menganalisis isu fiqh berkaitan poligami yang sentiasa menjadi perbahasan pada masa kini serta melihat kesesuaiannya dalam konteks sosial dan kemodenan negara ini. Kajian mendapati, kaedah penyelidikan sosial dapat menyokong kajian hukum Islam dalam usaha meningkatkan kualiti proses penyelidikan dan hasil dapatannya.   Kata kunci: Pendekatan integratif; hukum Islam; sains sosial; analisis gender; poligami

Quale modello di partecipazione per la ricerca sociale? Riflessivitŕ nel rapporto tra ricercatore e attore sociale

2012 ◽  
pp. 127-153
Author(s):  
Silvia Cataldi
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Social Actor ◽  
The Social ◽  
Essential Questions ◽  
Object Of Study ◽  
The Relationship

The article begins with a brief overview of how the relationship between researcher and object of study has been approached in social sciences. The goal is to reflect further on the process of this study and to raise two essential questions: what kind of relationship develops between the researcher and the social actor? And what kind of participation is required from the social actor? To answer these questions the article proposes identifying four different models of participation, the effects of which are analyzed by rediscovering all the practices that include a particular involvement of the social actor in the research process.

Missionary Zeal and the Scholarly Stance: Policy and Commitment in Research on Old Age

1989 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 105-121 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gilbert Smith
Keyword(s):  
Theoretical Model ◽  
Social Policy ◽  
Old Age ◽  
Policy Process ◽  
Social Research ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Potential Contribution ◽  
Missionary Zeal ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Relationship

ABSTRACTThere is a danger that the ‘missionary zeal’ exhibited by some social gerontologists in the interests of those members of society who are older than others, may endanger the subject's ‘scholarly stance’ and the potential contribution to social policy of research on old age. This paper discusses four facets of the matter: (1) the anticipated values underpinning policies of state welfare (2) personal feelings and values in the business of research (3) values and the kind of data we value and (4) the question of whose side we are on. The paper concludes with a theoretical model of the relationship between the social policy process and the social research process as framework for understanding exactly how values about ageing impact both research about ageing and the relationship between that research and relevant social policies.

scholarly journals Data Collection Challenges and Recommendations for Early Career Researchers

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marylen Rimando ◽  
Andrea Brace ◽  
Apophia Namageyo-Funa ◽  
Tiffany Parr ◽  
Diadrey-Anne Sealy ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Data Collection ◽  
Doctoral Students ◽  
Social Research ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Early Career ◽  
Early Career Researchers ◽  
Research Mentoring ◽  
Data Collection Process ◽  
The Social

Data collection is critical to the social research process. When implemented correctly, data collection enhances the quality of a social research study. However, doctoral students and early career researchers may encounter challenges with data collection. This article reports on the data collection challenges in dissertation research encountered by doctoral students enrolled in a public health program at a southeastern United States urban university. Each doctoral student shared at least one challenge and how it affected the data collection process. Additionally, the doctoral students shared how the identified challenges were addressed or suggested recommendations. Understanding these experiences of doctoral students is helpful for doctoral students and early career researchers conducting social research. The lessons learned may guide faculty in research mentoring and structuring research seminars for doctoral students.

scholarly journals Researcher-Led Development of E-Research in the Social Sciences: The Case of an E-Social Science Pilot Demonstrator Project

2010 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 42-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bridgette Wessels ◽  
Max Craglia
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Social Science ◽  
Social Exclusion ◽  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Social Research ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Natural Sciences ◽  
Research Management ◽  
Geographical Variations ◽  
The Social

The introduction and use of information and communication technologies (ICT) in the process of research is extending beyond research management into research practice itself. This extension of the use of ICT in research is being termed as e-research. The characteristics of e-research are seen as the combination of three interrelated strands, which are: the increased computerization of the research process; research organized more predominantly in the form of distributed networks of researchers, and a strong emphasis on visualization. E-research has become established in the natural sciences but the development of e-research in relation to social sciences is variable and less pervasive. The richness of the social sciences and their variety of practices and engagement in diverse fields of study mean that e-research as utilized in the natural sciences cannot be easily migrated into the social sciences. This paper explores the development of e-research for the social sciences. The paper is based on an ESRC funded e-social science demonstrator project in which social scientists sought to shape the use of Grid ICT technologies in the research process. The project is called: ‘Collaborative Analysis of Offenders’ Personal and Area-based Social Exclusion’: it addresses social exclusion in relation to how individual and neighbourhood effects account for geographical variations of crime patterns and explores the opportunities and challenges offered by e-research to address the research problem. The paper suggests that if e-research is driven from the needs of social research then it can enhance the practice of social science.

scholarly journals Stir: Poetic field works from the Distant Voices project

2020 ◽  
pp. 174165902097099
Author(s):  
Phil Crockett Thomas
Keyword(s):  
Social Research ◽  
Actor Network Theory ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Research Associate ◽  
The Social ◽  
Poetic Practice ◽  
Field Works ◽  
Found Poetry ◽  
The University ◽  
Authorial Voice

In this brief research note I discuss and share from, Stir (2020): a collection of poems that were written while I was the research associate on the Distant Voices project based at the University of Glasgow (2017–2021). These poems reflect on my experience of doing ethnographic research in carceral spaces, and are written from the perspective of an outsider with a pass that allowed access for a limited time only. The collection is open access and available to read online. The note situates my project within the context of poetic practice in the social sciences. Inspired primarily by feminist scholarship, I also draw on actor-network theory to describe my research process as one of ‘translation’. The note also touches on historical anxieties about the legitimacy of the approach and the sociological preference for ‘found poetry’. I reflect on some ethical and creative questions that arose for me in writing poetry as social research, including representing research participants, use of pronouns and authorial voice, and emotions and research. I also discuss the affordances of working creatively with ethnographic materials, and the role of poetry in pursuing social change.

2. The Social Research Process

2019 ◽  
pp. 9-24
Author(s):  
Tom Clark ◽  
Liam Foster ◽  
Alan Bryman
Keyword(s):  
Social Research ◽  
Research Process ◽  
The Social ◽  
Human World ◽  
Basic Features ◽  
The Relationship

This chapter outlines some of the basic features of social research. It introduces students to the notion that social research is a process, helps to clarify the reasons for reearch, and explores the relationship between theory and research. Using the analogy of a voyage, it demonstrates that specific tasks associated with for carrying out social research tend to be ordered, but not always orderly. There are dynamic points of issue that need to be negotiated to move a dissertation project toward completion, or otherwise there is a risk of being blown off course. By understanding what is meant by the research process, and how theory can be used in social research, readers can begin to explore, describe, and explain the human world with greater confidence.

scholarly journals Desafiando el contexto: Apuntes a los debates contemporáneos sobre redes y escalas

2020 ◽  
pp. 165
Author(s):  
Juan Camilo Perdomo-Marín
Keyword(s):  
Social Studies ◽  
Social Research ◽  
The Political ◽  
Social Studies Of Science ◽  
Political Position ◽  
The Social ◽  
Human World ◽  
New Challenges ◽  
Object Of Study ◽  
Operational Logic

El presente escrito sintetiza, evalúa y amplia críticamente los debates contemporáneos sobre el ejercicio de contextualización para comprender los nuevos desafíos y posibilidades que acarrea la investigación social. Para esta tarea, primero, se introducirán las ideas centrales de los Estudios Sociales de la Ciencia y la Tecnología con la finalidad de comprender cómo el proceso de contextualización afecta directamente el objeto de estudio. Segundo, se señalará que este objeto posee un estatus ontológico emergente puesto que se deben redefinir constantemente las relaciones que lo componen. Tercero, se resaltarán las contribuciones de Marilyn Strathern a los debates anteriores por medio de sus reflexiones sobre las escalas. Por último, mediante los conceptos de lógicaperceptiva, hacer-escala y mereología se sustentará que la ontología, la epistemología, la metodología y la reflexividad se encuentran en una retroalimentación permanente. Además, se resaltará que este vínculo implica reevaluar la posición política del investigador, la forma en que se entiende el trabajo de campo y el mundo no-humano.This paper synthesizes, evaluates and critically broadens contemporary debates about the exercise of contextualization to understand the new challenges and possibilities that social research brings. For this task, first, the central ideas of the Social Studies of Science and Technology will be introduced in order to comprehend how the contextualization process directly affects the object of study. Second, it will be noted that this object has an emerging ontological status since the relationships that compose it must be constantly redefined. Third, Marilyn Strathern’s contributions to the previous debates will be highlighted through her reflections on the scales. Finally, through the concepts of operational-logic, make-scale and mereology it will be sustained that ontology, epistemology, methodology and reflexivity are in permanent feedback. In addition, it will be emphasized that this link implies reevaluating the political position of the researcher, the way in which fieldwork and the non-human world are understood.

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