[Imc-communication] Research about Imc

[clara]

hi,
count me in on this... we get so many requests quite often we answer the 
same questions again and again, while on the other hand we get very 
little back.

some guidelines might also make it easier for some people to understand 
why we are irritated over some research requests.

love
clara

/k40z wrote:

> hey...
> 
> as someone who is partly institutionalised as a phd student, i m
> inclined to agree with most of what ionnek writes.
> 
> i think guidelines would be good, because I believe that research done
> in a well-meaning, well-informed and well-intended manner can only
> strengthen the indy network.
> 
> would participate in the guidelines project on an ad-hoc basis...sounds
> like a good ides - certainly necessary to have in order to help
> researcher along the lines that WE envision (well-meaning, well-informed
> and well-intended).
> 
> in solidarity,
> 
> /k40z - another 1 of lancaster imc
> 
> 
> On Wed, 2004-06-23 at 10:47, ionnek wrote:
> 
>>Hi all,
>>
>>I don´t know if you feel the same - but here in the UK, I am under the 
>>impression that imc has become a very en vogue research topic. We are 
>>approached by teams from Universities, PhD-researchers, critical 
>>publicists, MA or BA students. Some inform us about their research 
>>design, research questions etc, most don`t. Many want us to fill in 
>>questionnaires, one research team from nijmegen bluntly put their 
>>questionnaire on the newswire, another one from Wales wants us to link 
>>to their questionnaire from a feature (!). Many are also asking for 
>>interviews with individuals.
>>
>>I would be very interested to hear how other collectives deal with this 
>>academic interest in indymedia. Because I do believe we could get a lot 
>>out of academic research, project that gather, systemise and interpret - 
>>but on the other hand, it can be a nuisance, disappointing, annoying and 
>>even dangerous. It is a fine line between a fair relationship between 
>>researcher and researched on one hand, and an exploitative relationship 
>>on the other.
>>
>>How do you make decisions about how to participate or not to participate?
>>
>>I can think about some formal responses to researchers:
>>
>>- be our guest in studying the newswires, middlecolumns, publicly 
>>archived email lists and the twiki (not sure if i`d even mention the 
>>latter - if they are seriously interested, they will find it).
>>
>>- we consider it appropriate that publications about indymedia are 
>>published under a creative commons licence and made accessible on the web.
>>
>>- If you use indymedia as a research topic, we expect you to provide a 
>>link to your work on 
>>http://docs.indymedia.org/view/Global/ImcEssayCollection
>>
>>I am also tempted to collect some guidelines:
>>
>>- if you wish a more intensive collaboration with your research object, 
>>please send a description of your research design, methodology and 
>>research questions, including planned proceedings with the results. More 
>>intensive collaboration includes for example: interviews with indymedia 
>>volunteers (per email, on the phone, f2f, chatrooms), participating in 
>>meetings (f2f, irc), extensive lurking on lists, participant observation 
>>online and offline, using imc resources to find more guinea pigs for 
>>questionnaires etc.
>>
>>- Indymedia is a network of volunteers dedicated to social change. Our 
>>core interest is to run the indymedia websites and promote the indymedia 
>>network online and offline. Therefore we only participate in selected 
>>research projects. Our decision depends on several factors: Is the 
>>research likely to create debates and results that are interesting for 
>>us as a collective or a collective? Does the researcher make his/her 
>>motivation, methodology, theoretical framework transparent? Will results 
>>and theories be discussed with indymedia, before publication? Openness 
>>for collaborative research models? And finally - does anyone feel like 
>>spending time on this project right now?
>>
>>- etc etc
>>
>>best
>>ionnek
>>
>>
>>
>>_______________________________________________
>>IMC-communication mailing list
>>IMC-communication at lists.indymedia.org
>>http://lists.indymedia.org/mailman/listinfo/imc-communication
> 
> 
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