7 Technology-based and multi-modal data gathering
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Helen Kara
Abstract
It is impossible to enumerate all the actual and potential uses of technology in data gathering. This chapter covers documents (huge and growing numbers of which are now electronic or digitised), video, smartphones and apps, online and other secondary data and using technology for interviews. It also covers research using social media, although this is woven through the text rather than being a stand-alone section. There are many other things I could have included. For example, eye-tracking technology is used in a range of ways in research, such as to investigate how people read documents such as comics (Mikkonen and Lautenbacher 2019). However, I decided to focus on the methods that are most widely accessible.
Taking a multi-modal approach vastly increases the range of options available to researchers. This amount of choice can seem daunting, so it is important to remember that you have your research questions to guide you. The methods you choose for gathering data should not be those you find most attractive but those that offer the best chance of helping you to answer your research questions.
We saw in Chapter 4 that the use of technology in research offers a lot of new opportunities to researchers, and that those come with new ethical challenges. Using technology for gathering data often requires a complete rethink of ethics, from the basic elements at this stage such as good management of privacy, anonymity and confidentiality, and consent, to whole new ethical dimensions of research (Box 7. Researchers working with participants who have communication difficulties are required to think hard about both ethics and methods.
Abstract
It is impossible to enumerate all the actual and potential uses of technology in data gathering. This chapter covers documents (huge and growing numbers of which are now electronic or digitised), video, smartphones and apps, online and other secondary data and using technology for interviews. It also covers research using social media, although this is woven through the text rather than being a stand-alone section. There are many other things I could have included. For example, eye-tracking technology is used in a range of ways in research, such as to investigate how people read documents such as comics (Mikkonen and Lautenbacher 2019). However, I decided to focus on the methods that are most widely accessible.
Taking a multi-modal approach vastly increases the range of options available to researchers. This amount of choice can seem daunting, so it is important to remember that you have your research questions to guide you. The methods you choose for gathering data should not be those you find most attractive but those that offer the best chance of helping you to answer your research questions.
We saw in Chapter 4 that the use of technology in research offers a lot of new opportunities to researchers, and that those come with new ethical challenges. Using technology for gathering data often requires a complete rethink of ethics, from the basic elements at this stage such as good management of privacy, anonymity and confidentiality, and consent, to whole new ethical dimensions of research (Box 7. Researchers working with participants who have communication difficulties are required to think hard about both ethics and methods.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Front Matter i
- Contents vii
- List of boxes, figures and tables xi
- Notes on the author xv
- Foreword xvi
- Debts of gratitude xvii
- How this book can help 1
- Introducing creative research 5
- Creative research methods in practice 23
- Transformative research frameworks and Indigenous research 45
- Creative research methods and ethics 61
- Creative thinking 77
- Arts-based and embodied data gathering 101
- Technology-based and multi-modal data gathering 119
- Arts-based and embodied data analysis 135
- Technology-based and multi-modal data analysis 149
- Arts-based and embodied research reporting 163
- Technology-based and multi-modal research reporting 177
- Arts-based and embodied presentation 187
- Technology-based and multi-modal presentation 199
- From research into practice 215
- Conclusion 235
- Further reading 239
- References 241
- Index 285
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Front Matter i
- Contents vii
- List of boxes, figures and tables xi
- Notes on the author xv
- Foreword xvi
- Debts of gratitude xvii
- How this book can help 1
- Introducing creative research 5
- Creative research methods in practice 23
- Transformative research frameworks and Indigenous research 45
- Creative research methods and ethics 61
- Creative thinking 77
- Arts-based and embodied data gathering 101
- Technology-based and multi-modal data gathering 119
- Arts-based and embodied data analysis 135
- Technology-based and multi-modal data analysis 149
- Arts-based and embodied research reporting 163
- Technology-based and multi-modal research reporting 177
- Arts-based and embodied presentation 187
- Technology-based and multi-modal presentation 199
- From research into practice 215
- Conclusion 235
- Further reading 239
- References 241
- Index 285
