Post on 13-Jul-2020
transcript
Socialmediaresearch:issuesofexperienceinRECs
2ndMay2017ChelseaSwi>
IntroducAon
• FocusoncommiCeememberslackofexperienceofsocialmedia
• Whatarethefactorsinfluencingthis?WhataretheimplicaAonsforbothcommiCeemembersandresearchers?Isitproblem?
• Drawingondatafrom:– RECinterviews– Researcherinterviews
Reviewingsocialmediaresearch
• Inmostcases,experiencereviewingsocialmediaresearchwaslimitedduetolownumberofproposalscomingthroughforreview
• LiCleresearchusingSMcomingthroughforreview,whichmeansliCleneedtoconsidertheethicsofthiskindofresearch.
Interviewee14:I'mnotbecausetobehonestI'veworkedonakindofneedtoknowbasisandI‘venotneededtoknowaboutanyofthisstuff.[…]now,I’mstar?ngtoencountersomeoftheliteratureonthiswhichismen?oningguidelinesandsoonbutI'venotgottogripswithanyofthatyetatall.
Lackofpersonalandprofessionalexperience
• Only4intervieweesstatedthattheyuseSMdataintheirownresearchand14/19statedthattheydidnotuseSMdatainapersonalcapacityeither
Interviewee1:Imightbeinfacttheworstpersontointerviewbut--becauseIdon’thaveanysocialmediaaccount.Ineverusesocialmediaaccount[…]Idon’tevenknowwhatop?onsareavailabletoday;thereislikegazillionofthingsoutthere.Obviously,IknowFacebookandTwiIer--andwhat'sthattheonethatyousharepictures--Instagram.ButkindoflikethosethingsaretheonesthatIonlyknowfromday-to-daylife.Ineveruseanyofthem;Ineverdidanyresearchonthem.
LackofinsAtuAonal/departmentalSMspecificethicalguidelines
• InaddiAontothethislackofexperience,parAcipantsreportedthatinsAtuAonalguidelinesfortheuseofsocialmediainresearchwereeithernon-existentorintheprocessofbeingdevelopedandimplemented.
• Thiswaso>endescribedasanongoingprocess,promptedbyariseinthenumberofsuchapplicaAonscomingthroughforreview.
Interviewee11:Ithinkmorelikely,stepbystepthatsomeofthethingsthatwedecidedoncasebycasebasismaybecomemoreformalized,suchthatwecanactuallycangivepeopleadviceofthiswouldbeacceptable,thiswouldn’torhaveyouthoughtaboutsomethingelse.AndIthinkthatjustcomesfromthecommiIeeshavingmoreexperience
FluidityofsocialmediaplaVorms
• EightparAcipantspointedoutthattheseplaVormsareconstantlychangingandthateachisdifferent.Therefore,anyexperienceislikelytobevalidforonlyashortperiodofAme.
• Therefore,setguidelinesmaynotalwaysbepracAcalordesirableinsuchfast-changingresearchcontexts
Interviewee1:Andthensomeothersocialmediacomesthenextday,andit'sacompletelydifferentwayofdealingwithitandyoudon'tknow.[…]becauseeventuallyifyouenforcesomething,thenit'sgoingtobecompletelyirrelevantinsomeothercontextandthenit'sgoingtocauseatroubleratherthanhelpyou.Butitmaynotbehelpfulintwoyears,soyoujusthavetositdownandthinkaboutalltheethics;itisgoingtobeveryunnecessaryprocesstome.
ImplicaAons:RECperspecAves
• ThelackofbothpersonalandprofessionalexperienceofsocialmediahadimplicaAonsfortheextenttowhichcommiCeemembersfelttheyhadsufficientknowledgetoprovideexpertopiniononresearchwhichusessocialmediadata:
Interviewee2:Okay.Ifeelslightly--so,I'mthewrongpersonforyouto--tobeenrolledinthis,really.Ihaveabsolutelynothingtodowithsocialmedia.Interviewee3:Ipersonallydon’tgetinvolvedwithanysocialmediadirectly,butitisused.IhavetosayI’mtooold---I’mnotupwithsocialmedia.Idon’tuseitpersonallyeithersoI’mnotactuallytherightpersoninsomeways.Someofmyyoungercolleagues--
ImplicaAons:RECperspecAves
• Somealsosuggestedthatthisimpactedontheirabilityasreviewers:
Interviewee10:So,Ithinkthat'scertainlyabigconcernandIjustdon’tknowifIgotanapplica?onfromsomeonewhowantstousethedarkwebIwouldhavetotakeadvice,Iwouldn’tknowquitewhatIwasjudging,butyouknow,IknowIdon’tknowsoit'sakindofaknownunknown.
ImplicaAons:researcherperspecAves
• Mostresearchersfelttherewasalackofexperiencebuttheextenttowhichthiswasperceivedtobeaproblemvaried.
• Severalintervieweessuggestedthatresearchers,aswellasthecommiCee,wereresponsibleforthinkingthroughtheissues.Consequently,commiCeesdidnotneedtobeexpertsontheethicsofsocialmediaresearch
Researcher7:Yeah,Ithinkyoucan'tguaranteethatanyresearchethicscommiIeewillhaveexper?seinthekindofresearchyoudo,Ithinkit'skindofnaïvetoexpectthatbutinmyexperience,researchethicscommiIeeswillaskresearcherstoexplain[..]andthenresearcherscanexplainwhytheythinkthisapproachisappropriateratherthanthatapproach,youknow,inthefaceofanykindofissuesthattheethicscommiIeemightbeconcernedabout.
Exampleimage
ImplicaAons:researcherperspecAves
• However,themajorityoftheintervieweesexpressedreservaAonsaboutRECcommiCees’lackofexperienceandtheirabilitytoreviewresearchwhichusesSMdata
• ResearcherssuggestedthatcommiCeememberswholackexperiencetendedtobeoverlycauAousandmakeuninformedcomments
Researcher2:thecommiIeethat’slookingatit[theproposal]shouldincludepeoplewithexper?seinsocialmediaresearchoratleastknowledgeoftheissue.Sobecauseit’s--becauseotherwise,youcanendupgeRngcommentsandrequirementsandethicalrequirementsthataremeaninglessorunnecessary,whichhascertainlybeentheexperienceofwell,myselfandcertainlymycolleagues
DoeslackexperienceequallackofexperAse?
• Findingssuggestthatlackofexperiencecanbeaproblem:– CommiCeememberslacksufficientknowledgeonwhichtomakeinformeddecisions
– Lessexperience=morecauAous,limiAngforresearchers• Fieldinflux-justpartofaprocess/necessarystageinthe
developmentofnewresearchmethods?• WhatcancommiCeesandresearchersdo?
– Nothing-plaVormsconstantlyinastateofchangeanyway– SubjectallSMresearchtoethicalreview– Engageinadialoguewithresearchersusingsocialmedia-sharingexperAse
QuesAons/discussion?
2ndMay2017ChelseaSwi>