New paper: Exploring technology as active agents during remote fieldwork in homes

Ny research paper from the RELINK project, which can be found here.

Accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, research tools allowing for a remote approach to data collection have gained new traction.

In this newly published article, we reflect upon how these tools affect the research situation, both providing opportunities and setting limits for what researchers and participants can do.

A person sitting in front of a screen, where a man is visible facing viewers. They appear to have a conversation. A book on the right of the person.
Image: Dylan Ferreira, Unsplash.com

We apply a socio-material approach that views the technology as actors, interacting with humans and the surrounding environment to realize the remote research interview.

We show how videoconferencing tools can provide both access to and constraints on what can be done and who can participate and underline the importance of skills for both researchers and participants. We demonstrate how the handholding of the camera and the frame of the lens direct what is seen during a video interview, and how power dynamics between participants and researchers are shaped.

The article concludes that researchers need to be mindful of how agency is negotiated between technology and humans during remote fieldwork.


Read the full article here.

Reference: Teigen, H. F., Paupini, C. & Mainsah, H. (2023). Intra-acting with technology during remote fieldwork in homes: Curating video interviews and drawing methods, International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 2023. DOI: 10.1177/16094069231185466

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