Information distribution and ownership
I’m currently mulling around a bunch of thoughts and half-formed opinions on the distribution, ownership and attribution of ideas and information in an age of free-flowing digital media.
One of my current concerns is the tension between perceived needs one the one hand for attribution, academic traceability and ownership of ones own words; and on the other hand for privacy. This is seen in sharpest relief in solicitations for academic surveys. Routinely such instruments come with a disclaimer pointing out that all answers will be anonymous. Well-structured surveys and questionnaires, though, often also contain a section for general comments and feedback. In most cases I do not want this to be anonymous - indeed I would rather it formed part of a dialogue between the researcher and subjects, allowing both to benefit, learn and develop.
I am considering taking up a habit of always adding my contact details to academic survey submissions to deliberately challenge the assumption that I wish to be an anonymous donor of information, and to encourage researchers to participate in a community of interest.
Some things I have read recently on associated topics include:
Mathemagenic » Blogging research: attribution and ownership of ideas
Lilia Efimova wrote:
Frank, I think the issue you are rising is a very important one: often it’s the people being studied who have to be credited for interesting insights. Researchers might prompt those ideas by asking smart questions, as well as position and amplify them…
I was contemplating of writing a full post on in, but it time is running out before the holidays, so probably later. In a study I’m doing now I want to attribute words to the participants - will see how it works.
Posted on 16-Jul-08 at 5:50 pm | Permalink
Mathemagenic » Bloggers as public intellectuals and writing about them in a research report wrote:
[...] blogging research I came across a nice summary of the issue from a research participant side in a post by Frank Carver (bold is mine): One of my current concerns is the tension between perceived needs one the one hand [...]
Posted on 03-Sep-08 at 11:15 am | Permalink