Wild interdisciplinarity: ethnography and computer science
Drawing on the experiences of a novel collaborative project between sociologists and computer scientists, this paper identifies a set of challenges for fieldwork that are generated by this wild interdisciplinarity. Public Access Wi-Fi Service was a project funded by an ‘in-the-wild’ research program...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
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Taylor & Francis
2016
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/32809/ |
| _version_ | 1848794494238982144 |
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| author | Goulden, Murray Greiffenhagen, Christian Crowcroft, Jon McAuley, Derek Mortier, Richard Radenkovic, Milena Sathiaseelan, Arjuna |
| author_facet | Goulden, Murray Greiffenhagen, Christian Crowcroft, Jon McAuley, Derek Mortier, Richard Radenkovic, Milena Sathiaseelan, Arjuna |
| author_sort | Goulden, Murray |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Drawing on the experiences of a novel collaborative project between sociologists and computer scientists, this paper identifies a set of challenges for fieldwork that are generated by this wild interdisciplinarity. Public Access Wi-Fi Service was a project funded by an ‘in-the-wild’ research programme, involving the study of digital technologies within a marginalised community, with the goal of addressing digital exclusion. We argue that similar forms of research, in which social scientists are involved in the deployment of experimental technologies within real world settings, are becoming increasingly prevalent. The fieldwork for the project was highly problematic, with the result that few users of the system were successfully enrolled. We analyse why this was the case, identifying three sets of issues which emerge in the juxtaposition of interdisciplinary collaboration and wild setting. We conclude with a set of recommendations for projects involving technologists and social scientists. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:17:05Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-32809 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:17:05Z |
| publishDate | 2016 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-328092020-05-04T17:47:37Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/32809/ Wild interdisciplinarity: ethnography and computer science Goulden, Murray Greiffenhagen, Christian Crowcroft, Jon McAuley, Derek Mortier, Richard Radenkovic, Milena Sathiaseelan, Arjuna Drawing on the experiences of a novel collaborative project between sociologists and computer scientists, this paper identifies a set of challenges for fieldwork that are generated by this wild interdisciplinarity. Public Access Wi-Fi Service was a project funded by an ‘in-the-wild’ research programme, involving the study of digital technologies within a marginalised community, with the goal of addressing digital exclusion. We argue that similar forms of research, in which social scientists are involved in the deployment of experimental technologies within real world settings, are becoming increasingly prevalent. The fieldwork for the project was highly problematic, with the result that few users of the system were successfully enrolled. We analyse why this was the case, identifying three sets of issues which emerge in the juxtaposition of interdisciplinary collaboration and wild setting. We conclude with a set of recommendations for projects involving technologists and social scientists. Taylor & Francis 2016-04-06 Article PeerReviewed Goulden, Murray, Greiffenhagen, Christian, Crowcroft, Jon, McAuley, Derek, Mortier, Richard, Radenkovic, Milena and Sathiaseelan, Arjuna (2016) Wild interdisciplinarity: ethnography and computer science. International Journal of Social Research Methodology . ISSN 1464-5300 Digital sociology interdisciplinary computer science in the wild socio-technical applied http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13645579.2016.1152022 doi:10.1080/13645579.2016.1152022 doi:10.1080/13645579.2016.1152022 |
| spellingShingle | Digital sociology interdisciplinary computer science in the wild socio-technical applied Goulden, Murray Greiffenhagen, Christian Crowcroft, Jon McAuley, Derek Mortier, Richard Radenkovic, Milena Sathiaseelan, Arjuna Wild interdisciplinarity: ethnography and computer science |
| title | Wild interdisciplinarity: ethnography and computer science |
| title_full | Wild interdisciplinarity: ethnography and computer science |
| title_fullStr | Wild interdisciplinarity: ethnography and computer science |
| title_full_unstemmed | Wild interdisciplinarity: ethnography and computer science |
| title_short | Wild interdisciplinarity: ethnography and computer science |
| title_sort | wild interdisciplinarity: ethnography and computer science |
| topic | Digital sociology interdisciplinary computer science in the wild socio-technical applied |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/32809/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/32809/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/32809/ |