Doing Ethnography in Teams: A Case Study of Asymmetries in Collaborative Research

This uniquely in-depth book offers a blow-by-blow account of the sometimes problematic dynamics of conducting collaborative fieldwork in ethnography. Tracing the interplay between co-researchers at various points of contact in both professional and personal relations, the analysis draws out the asymmetries which can develop among team members nominally working towards the same ends. It details the often complex dialogues that evolve in an attempt to navigate conflicting interests, such as team members resistances to particular methodological `recipes or research protocols. The authors show that such debates can create an open forum to negotiate new practices. A key element of this publication is that it goes beyond an analysis of more traditional power relations in research teams comprising members at different academic pay grades. As well as drawing attention to gender-related dynamics in research collaborations, the authors use themselves as an exemplar to demonstrate how differences in age, experience, knowledge, professional skills and background can be exploited to generate positive outcomes constituting much more than the apparent sum of their parts. In doing so, the authors reveal the delightful, surprising and yet challenging aspects of research collaboration that are often absent from the qualitative literature

Development of web platform for dissemination of design with social impact methodology

Since the distant history of mankind, the phenomenon of the social impact of design is noticed. The term design with social impact has appeared in frequent use for the last decade, but the interest of designers for the impact of their works in social change has long been there. The designer's approach has undergone major changes over the years, focusing on the outward appearance of products, their features, usability, versatile customer testing, to the involvement of users in the design process. The main goal of this master's thesis is to study the essence of the approach design with social impact and its importance in today's society, to study the methods that emerge from it and to contribute to the promotion, dissemination and application of the knowledge and experiences from the realized activities of this field in our society. The research emphasized the study of the most modern scientific methods in the field of design, as ethnographic research and grounded theory. In order to clarify and define the essence of this methodology, realized projects from the held workshops within the international project "Design with Social Impact" were presented and analyzed. The drawn conclusions are presented in the form of guidelines on how it should be applied, what are its advantages, and why its application is useful. As a final result of this research a web platform was created aimed at spreading the idea about the possibilities of the methodology design with social impact in our society as a factor that can affect the social changes, and at the same time as an opportunity to exchange knowledge and experiences of the designers. This paper is expected to promote the methodology of design with social impact in our surroundings in order to contribute to raising awareness about the importance of designers and the creative way of thinking as an important factor for solving numerous problems in contemporary communities and contemporary living