Laboratory methods are useful for providing statistical
answers to specific questions concerning comparative uses
of information systems and similar concerns. However, often
the research questions we need to ask are much more diffuse
and concern everyday practice rather than artificial,
laboratory-bound tasks. We might be interested in how the
arrival of portable MP3 players affects how people find,
share, and experience music; or what the Internet means to
those who have left their families to work abroad; or how
computer-based networks are affecting how we think about
social relationships. These sorts of questions do not lend
themselves easily to quantitative analysis, because the
object of the research is not to categorize action but to
figure out what sorts of categories might even make sense.
They are concerned not simply with actions but with meaning
and experience. To answer these sorts of questions, we need
to turn to different methods.
The goal of this class is to introduce you to the
qualitative research methods, and in particular the use of
Grounded Theory methods for grappling with materials in
ethnographic fieldwork. Broadly, there are three concerns
to be addressed. First, what are ethnographic methods, and
how do we make use of them in the context of Informatics
research; second, how do you go about conducting
ethnographic research and analysing materials; and third,
what are the contemporary debates concerning the use and
development of ethnographic methods. We will focus in
particular on ethnographic methods as a set of textual
practices -- practices for producing, interpreting,
manipulating, and shaping texts. In other words, we'll be
emphasizing both sides of ethno-graphy -- that not only is
ethnography a method for inquiring into the internal
structure of cultural experiences (ethno-) but
also that it is a means of writing about them
(-graphy).
We will do this primarily through project work. In groups
of two or three, all students in the class will undertake
projects based on ethnographic techniques. We will devote
as many class meetings as we can to "data sessions," where
we collectively explore and analyse data that you bring to
class. Project work will be supplemented with a range of
in-class discussions and readings. You will be evaluated on
your contributions to in-class discussions as well as on a
final written report on your particular project.