Digital Video as Research Practice: Methodology for the Millennium

This essay has its origin in a project on the globalization of science that rediscovered the wisdom of past research practices through the technology of the future. The main argument of this essay is that a convergence of digital video technologies with practices of social surveillance portends a methodological shift towards a new variety of qualitative methodology. Digital video is changing the way that students of the social world practice their craft, offering not just new ways of presenting but new ways of practicing field research. We introduce concepts of the fluid wall and videoactive context to emphasize that (1) the camera is an actor in the research process, and (2) both behaviour and observation occur in both directions--in front of and behind the camera. While these practices and procedures are novel in some ways, they may also be viewed as old methods in the context of new instruments for recording as well as a new social understanding of these instruments. Since new technologies interact with the social context, the digital video methods we discuss in this essay are likely to become increasingly important for generations to come. We provide an overview of the use of digital video in research practice and present an account of the use of digital video methodology in Chile

Perceptions of the Research Climate in Universities and National Research Institutes: The Role of Gender and Bureaucracy in Three Low-Income Countries

This article examines the relationship between sex and sector of employment and perceptions of the research climate among a sample of researchers in three lowincome areas: Ghana, Kenya, and Kerala India. Using data gathered in 2010 from scientists working in universities and national research institutes, we address the following questions: 1) Are there differences in men’s and women’s assessment of the research environment in terms of their satisfaction with funding, ratings of problems associated with communication and coordination, and sense of autonomy? 2) Do contextual factors— primarily sector of employment but also controlling for home region—account for these differences? 3) Does the effect of sex vary across sector and location? 4) Are there other factors—family status, education, and experience—that mediate the relationship between sex, context and perceptions of the work environment? Findings indicate that female scientists’ satisfaction with funding is governed by national context rather than institutional context, while their sense of autonomy and experience with problems related to communication and coordination is governed by institutional contexts. By engaging with the literature on the gendered nature of bureaucracy, our results provide insight into the features of organizations that shape male and female researchers’ experiences

Hidden in the Middle : Culture, Value and Reward in Bioinformatics

Bioinformatics - the so-called shotgun marriage between biology and computer science - is an interdiscipline. Despite interdisciplinarity being seen as a virtue, for having the capacity to solve complex problems and foster innovation, it has the potential to place projects and people in anomalous categories. For example, valorised 'outputs' in academia are often defined and rewarded by discipline. Bioinformatics, as an interdisciplinary bricolage, incorporates experts from various disciplinary cultures with their own distinct ways of working. Perceived problems of interdisciplinarity include difficulties of making explicit knowledge that is practical, theoretical, or cognitive. But successful interdisciplinary research also depends on an understanding of disciplinary cultures and value systems, often only tacitly understood by members of the communities in question. In bioinformatics, the 'parent' disciplines have different value systems; for example, what is considered worthwhile research by computer scientists can be thought of as trivial by biologists, and vice versa. This paper concentrates on the problems of reward and recognition described by scientists working in academic bioinformatics in the United Kingdom. We highlight problems that are a consequence of its cross-cultural make-up, recognising that the mismatches in knowledge in this borderland take place not just at the level of the practical, theoretical, or epistemological, but also at the cultural level too. The trend in big, interdisciplinary science is towards multiple authors on a single paper; in bioinformatics this has created hybrid or fractional scientists who find they are being positioned not just in-between established disciplines but also in-between as middle authors or, worse still, left off papers altogether

Video Ethnography in Practice: Planning, Shooting, and Editing for Social Analysis

Video Ethnography in Practice is a brief guide for students in the social disciplines who are required to produce an ethnographic video, the most significant new methodological technique in 21st century social analysis. The authors, both accomplished videographers, cover the basic techniques of creating a video that documents human culture and behavior with true stories of the process of videography throughout. This text shows how new technologies like smart phones, widely available video editing software, and YouTube, have turned video ethnography into something that is within reach of students in a conventional course framework.https://repository.lsu.edu/facultybooks/1105/thumbnail.jp

Structures of Scientific Collaboration

How technology and bureaucracy shape collaborative scientific research projects: an empirical study of multiorganizational collaboration in the physical sciences. Collaboration among organizations is rapidly becoming common in scientific research as globalization and new communication technologies make it possible for researchers from different locations and institutions to work together on common projects. These scientific and technological collaborations are part of a general trend toward more fluid, flexible, and temporary organizational arrangements, but they have received very limited scholarly attention. Structures of Scientific Collaboration is the first study to examine multi-organizational collaboration systematically, drawing on a database of 53 collaborations documented for the Center for History of Physics of the American Institute of Physics. By integrating quantitative sociological analyses with detailed case histories, Shrum, Genuth, and Chompalov pioneer a new and truly interdisciplinary method for the study of science and technology. Scientists undertake multi-organizational collaborations because individual institutions often lack sufficient resources--including the latest technology--to achieve a given research objective. The authors find that collaborative research depends on both technology and bureaucracy; scientists claim to abhor bureaucracy, but most collaborations use it constructively to achieve their goals. The book analyzes the structural elements of collaboration (among them formation, size and duration, organization, technological practices, and participant experiences) and the relationships among them. The authors find that trust, though viewed as positive, is not necessarily associated with successful projects; indeed, the formal structures of bureaucracy reduce the need for high levels of trust--and make possible the independence so valued by participating scientists.https://repository.lsu.edu/facultybooks/1531/thumbnail.jp

Going virtual: Academic conferences in the age of COVID-19

In the context of the 2020 world pandemic of COVID-19, many professional and scientific associations have had to change the way that they gather and reorganize their scholarly conferences. For many of them, conferences are a main source of income and important occasions for business meetings and managerial decisions. Yet, with trips and face-to-face encounters banned, the opportunity arrived for going virtual and developing human and technical capacities to provide online environments for virtual conferences. In this article, we analyze the case of an e-conference co-organized by two international organizations at two levels: (a) the decision-making process and (b) the assessment by attendees. Relying on personal, first-hand experience, participant observation, and a post-conference survey, we collected data that allow an examination of the intricacies of the decision to go virtual as well as pros and cons of the experiences of colleagues who presented papers and attended sessions. Consistent with previous studies, we found that scholars value the possibility of having more colleagues participating (providing geographic and career stage diversity), reduction of carbon emissions, lower travel and transportation costs, and ease of watching presentations later (through recordings). On the other hand, academics point to the difficulty of socializing as the main problem, with implications for strengthening academic networks and consolidation of professional careers

International graduate training, digital inequality and professional network structure: An ego-centric social network analysis of knowledge producers at the global South

Based on a face-to-face survey of 312 scientists from government research institutes and state universities in two Philippine locations - Los Baños, Laguna and Muñoz, Nueva Ecija - we examine how graduate training and digital factors shape the professional network of scientists at the Global South. Results suggest that scientists prefer face-to-face interaction; there is no compelling evidence that digitally-mediated interaction will replace meaningful face-to-face interaction. What is evident is that among none face-to-face modes of communication a reordering maybe in progress. The effect of digital factors - expressed through advance hardware-software-user interaction skills - lies on network features pertaining to size, proportion of male and of core-based alters, and locational diversity. International graduate training and ascribed factors (gender and number of children) also configure the professional network of scientists - actors traditionally viewed as the epitome of rationality and objectivity. We argue that these factors influence knowledge production through a system of patronage and a culture that celebrates patrifocality. We forward the hypothesis that knowledge production at the Global South closely fits Callon\u27s [1995] extended translation model of science. © 2008 Springer Science+Business Media B.V