Rashmi, M
(2017)
The Inchoate Field of Digital Offline: A Reflection on Studying Mobile Media Practices of Digital Subalterns in India.
Digital Culture and Society, 3 (2).
pp. 219-228.
| Abstract: |
This article reflects on studying mobile phones as digital technologies,
while much of the scholarly preoccupation thus far has been to study
them as communication technologies. Based on the doctoral study on
subaltern users and their mobile media digital practices in India, it
discusses some of the theoretical issues and outlines methodological
possibilities while entering the field. It makes distinction between the
theoretical orientations of techno-sociality and sociality of technology,
and highlights the significance of adopting the latter to study new socialities
that are emerging due to human interaction with technology. It
discusses some challenges of doing qualitative research in new media
contexts and suggests measures for overcoming them. In this regard, it
reviews the suitability of virtual ethnography and participant observation
as methodological approaches to mobile phones. While the
popular trend has been to resort to technologised tools of data collection
and processing (even within qualitative research in new media
and digital technologies) this article suggests and discusses the usefulness
of a more basic, yet powerful method of long interview to study
users and document their practices. It concludes how such a choice
can also be regardful of some ethical issues involved in studying user
practices on mobile phones. |
| Item Type: |
Journal Paper
|
| Additional Information: |
Copyright belongs to the Publisher |
| Subjects: |
School of Social Sciences > Sociology |
| Divisions: |
Schools > Social Sciences |
| Date Deposited: |
18 Jan 2018 10:27 |
| Last Modified: |
18 Jan 2018 10:46 |
| Official URL: |
https://www.degruyter.com/view/j/dcs.2017.3.issue-... |
| Related URLs: |
|
| Funders: |
UNSPECIFIED |
| Projects: |
UNSPECIFIED |
| DOI: |
https://doi.org/10.14361/dcs-2017-0213 |
| URI: |
http://eprints.nias.res.in/id/eprint/1385 |
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