Issues in methods and reuse for hypermedia ethnography Presented at QUADS Showcase day September 28, 2006 Louise Corti.

Issues in methods Issues in methods and reuse for and reuse for hypermedia hypermedia ethnographyethnography

Presented at QUADS Showcase daySeptember 28, 2006

Louise Corti

Work undertaken Work undertaken

MIQDAS has been exploring the methodological implications of archiving, distributing and sharing multimedia qualitative data sets

The project has been working with an existing multimedia data set in order to consider the interface between data sharing, research design and methodological decision making

data generated and stored in a variety of media present particular challenges for effective, integrated and ethical archiving and potential reuse

WorkWork

the project has thus been able to build up a picture of the challenges, tasks and dilemmas involved in developing complex and contextualised qualitative data environments

the difficulties confronting researchers wishing to ‘archive’ methodological information and frameworks along with their datasets have been explored

the volume, particularity and complexity of this information enhances the need to consider web-based and digital platforms for archiving and data sharing

Data usedData used primary fieldwork was conducted during a previous

project at an interactive science discovery centre, where our substantive research focus was based around the production and consumption of ‘science’ in the context of an educative, entertainment setting

methodological project designed to explore the possibilities of utilising digital and hypermedia technologies for qualitative work

the fieldwork generated an extensive multimedia data set, archived in digital form - including audio and video materials, photographs, scanned documents and ethnographic fieldnotes

the teams experiences of archiving multimedia qualitative data, alongside the provision of necessary methodological and contextual information underpin the MIQDAS project

Ethnographic Ethnographic HypermediaHypermedia previous project created an “Ethnographic

Hypermedia Environment” (EHE) based on the ethnographic study of the science centre

EHE - a multimedia, hyperlinked presentation created on DVD using XHTML. Includes both: representation – the ethnography Multimedia data set – cleaned and

hyperlinked

EHE main pageEHE main page

MIQDAS outputs MIQDAS outputs addressingaddressing the ethical dimensions of preparing multimedia

qualitative data sets for reuse

the provision of contextual information to enable appropriate reuse of qualitative data sets

the challenges of archiving data generated and stored in a variety of media

the possibilities and challenges of including analyses and interpretations as part of the archived material

Two guides producedTwo guides produced

Online Guide discusses and illustrates how researchers

might document their methodology in a way that allows re-users to make the best use of the data generated

Methods Trail illustrates the ways in which research

design and methodological context can be included in preparing data for reuse

Online GuideOnline Guide uses exemplars to illustrate four major dilemmas that researchers

preparing their data for re-use need to consider how to:

ensure multimedia data can be contextualised so that inherent problems of ambiguity, data reduction and re-usability can be minimised

decide upon what contextual information to provide, both methodological and substantive, and how best to describe it in relation to data generation issues

organise the data-set in a way that allows re-users to identify data records, understand the evidence-base and navigate through the data-set

tackle the ethical dimensions of deposition through considering the legal and regulatory frameworks as well as the ethical dilemmas of re-use

www.cf.ac.uk/socsi/hyper/QUADS/guide.html

Methods trailMethods trail An interactive example of how a project’s methodology might

be represented electronically

designed to enable future re-users to understand how a dataset was generated from actual fieldwork processes. It documents the methods adopted in an ethnographic project on the production and reception of scientific knowledge at a science discovery centre

illustrates the kinds of information about methodological principles and processes that could be presented in order to take advantage of the opportunities afforded by hypermedia technology

designed to be both accessible and reflexive, it presents a ‘warts and all’ account of research design and execution

hosted by the Wales E-Science Centre via password-protected access; please contact the project team for accesshttps://wesc18-comsc.grid.cf.ac.uk/EHE/trails/methods/methods-cover.html

Using XMLUsing XML

Best practice is for fieldworkers to provide appropriate metadata/context for each data record from a complex project

Metadata requires a ‘common language’ hence use of XML XML facilitates common descriptions of

diverse data sets

Best practice does not require fieldworkers to know XML