Challenging Conventions in New Media Research: Ethical Reflexivity and Social Media Data Collection
Dr. Filippo Trevisan explores the ethical complexities of conducting research in new media, focusing on discipline-grounded reflexive practices. He questions traditional conventions in social media data collection and emphasizes the importance of safeguarding participants' voices while navigating sensitive issues. The presentation delves into the challenges of balancing benefits and ethical considerations in online research, urging researchers to critically reflect on their methodologies. Trevisan advocates for a thoughtful and ethical approach to data collection and presentation in the digital age.
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Challenging conventions: Towards discipline-grounded ethical reflexivity in new media research Dr Filippo Trevisan MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit University of Glasgow 25thApril 2014 @filippotrevisan www.filippotrevisan.net
2 To research or not to research? Social networking sites: public or private? Is it OK to lurk, scrape, archive and, possibly, reproduce their content simply because it is publicly available? Back to basics: what is the research trying to achieve? Benefit-cost analysis. Two ethical bottlenecks: Research design & data collection Results presentation @filippotrevisan - www.filippotrevisan.net
3 Collecting social media data Are established ethical conventions still fit for purpose? In disability research: vulnerable groups concept: - Patronising and exclusionary - Ineffective in the context of online research Generates an illusion of ethical compliance Focus on what people are saying rather than trying to establish who said it: sensitive issues (e.g. individual daily routines; medical records; emotional accounts; financial details; discrimination and abuse episodes; suicidal thoughts; etc.) to be granted additional attention. @filippotrevisan - www.filippotrevisan.net
4 Presenting social media data Key aim: project participants voices while protecting them from harm Traditionally, anonymised quotes to contextualise content analysis: is this a safe system in new media research? Problem: virtually impossible to guarantee anonymity, especially in the long term (technological changes may over-ride current privacy settings) Innovative ways around verbatim quotes: fabrication (Markham, 2012) controversial and potentially distortive @filippotrevisan - www.filippotrevisan.net
5 Read more: Trevisan, F. and Reilly P. (2014) Information, Communication and Society s article on ethics and sensitive issues research online (FREE ACCESS): http://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/zxVn8JahxJ2whDSbwvxd/full# .U293VsfY9QI Filippo Trevisan MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit University of Glasgow Email: filippo.trevisan@glasgow.ac.uk Web: www.filippotrevisan.net Twitter: @filippotrevisan
