Sociological Imagination and Investigation Social research for the 21st century: Globalisation, technology and method

In this session we will Look at how sociologists (quantitative and qualitative) respond to the challenges of a changing social world Consider the impact of globalization on the idea of ‘the nation’ as the object of sociological study Examine the impact of new technologies on both what and how sociologists research; Reflect on the particular challenges of  using ethnography for the study of ‘virtual communities’.  Social research methods in ‘the digital age’

Research methods and social change Sociology’s methods have always responded to – and been embedded in - processes of social change Ethnography related to journalism and to anthropology The survey a ‘technological’ response to the growth of a welfare state. The interview in ‘the interview society’ How can or should sociology adapt to contemporary ‘changes’?

Globalisation and social research Sociologists – quantitative and qualitative, traditionally, sought to study the internal workings and dynamics of apparently discrete, distinctive communities The ‘social’ and the ‘national’ were often assumed to be the same Processes of globalisation have entailed shifts …  from homogeneity to diversity  from static communities to dynamic communities  from material culture to symbolic culture

New technologies: the Internet and the ethnographic method An ethnography of texts and images, not people The ethnographic method is rooted in a belief that the researcher needs to experience the ‘reality’ of the everyday world of the community being researched. But what if the community you want to research has no physical presence?

The Internet and the ethnographic method: Validity and ethics Is access simplified? The question of ‘informed consent’ becomes more complex, however. At what point do you declare your purpose? One problem with internet based ethnography is that of validity. How do you check your data? To whom do you declare your purpose? Who can act as a ‘gatekeeper’ in this flatly structured community? The lines between public and private in virtual communities are complex, making the protection of privacy difficult.. Should it matter – to the ethnographer – that there is no ‘external social reality’?

Knowing the social in the digital age Transactional data (Amazon, TESCO) Whole population data – rather than inference from sampling Descriptive not analytical? Privately owned and managed (what are the ethics?)

Knowing the social in the digital age ‘Geo-demographic data’ CACI or MOSAIC CACI  census,  electoral role,  council tax  DVLA,  qualitative and visual data Used and accessed by a range of public and private interests

Conclusions Ethnography, the survey, the interview etc are all informed by and inform processes of social change Globalisation requires the re-imagination of the relationship between ‘the social’ and the nation The internet & digital technologies offer new challenges to established methods Sociology no longer has a monopoly on ‘social data’ (if it ever had)

Revision Lectures Term one (with Professor Archer) on April 21 st Term two (with me) on April 28 th