Intra-Acting With Technology During Remote Fieldwork in Homes: Curating Video Interviews and Drawing Methods

Abstract

The ubiquity of remote research practices and the increased adoption of videoconferencing tools are forcing researchers to pay attention to the features of these technologies and how they shape the research encounter. This article draws on experience from a Norwegian research project about digital vulnerabilities and living with smart home technologies. Participants were invited to draw floor plans of their homes, enact everyday routines, and perform a house tour on camera. By enacting collective memory work, reviewing, and discussing fieldnotes and other materials from the interviews, the authors have reflected upon experiences and identified lessons and implications for further research. Drawing on a socio-material approach that views digital technologies as active participants in enacting the research event, the article highlights how the presence of videoconferencing technology shapes the research situation and how data is generated. We show how videoconferencing tools can provide both access to and constraints on what can be done and who can participate and underline the importance of skills for both researchers and participants. We demonstrate how the handholding of the camera and the frame of the lens direct what is seen during a video interview, and how power dynamics between participants and researchers are shaped. We conclude that researchers need to be mindful of how agency is negotiated between technology and humans during remote fieldwork.