Digital Research Methods Research Articles

Assessing the dynamic social values of the ‘deep city’: An integrated methodology combining online and offline approaches

This monograph presents findings from original research on urban heritage transformations and advances existing scholarship on three grounds: (1) it offers tested combinations of methods to capture the social values of heritage; (2) it distils the complex, diverse social values generated by urban heritage and revealed by the use of these methods; and (3) it discusses the implications and potential applications of these methods for urban planning. Cities are multi-layered deposits of tangible historic features and intangible meanings, memories, practices and associated values. These dense socio-material assemblages have been conceptualised as the ‘deep city’, a concept that recognises dynamic relationships between past, present and future, whilst simultaneously repositioning heritage at the heart of sustainable transformation. However, methods for understanding people’s relationships with urban heritage are mostly applied piecemeal in urban planning and heritage management. Here, we introduce research involving a suite of social and digital research methods, which can be deployed rapidly in online and offline spaces to examine the social values generated by urban heritage. Three in-depth case studies, in Edinburgh, London, and Florence, reveal how these values are involved in urban place-making. Failure to take them into account in development and regeneration projects can result in fragmentation and/or marginalisation of communities and their place attachments. The research has important implications for urban planning, offering methods and tools for working with communities to create more socially sustainable urban futures.

Piecing together ‘big pictures’ with social network analysis and digital tools

Abstract When considering the ‘big picture’ in the history of science, what or who is considered important depends upon the focal point of the analysis. Social network analysis, equipped with digital methods, offers historians a way to help generate alternative perspectives for analysis by revealing elusive patterns obscured by the apparent ‘centre/periphery’ dichotomy or ‘great-men’ narratives. The presented methods are focused on studying connections, relationships and structural characteristics in networks and can thus help bridge global and local perspectives and suggest new historical lines of argument. This point is illustrated with a case study of Polish oil prospectors working in Argentina in the 1880s, which problematizes the narrative of the formation of transnational networks based on this mineral resource. The article discusses the place of digital methods within historical research, arguing that good skills in the interpretation and communication of outputs produced through digital research methods, coupled with familiarity with their associated theories, strengths and weaknesses, are indispensable.

Redefining Orientalism Through “Squid Game”: Sentiment Analysis And Word Cloud R Studio

This article aims to redefine Edward Said's definition of orientalism in the era of contemporary communication and information technology through the comments column for the film Squid Game on the IMDB (internet movie database) website. This paper argues that the Orientalist attitude of a dominant English-speaking country such as the United States emerged as a consequence of its white superior hegemony. In the midst of this orientalist attitude, today's communication and information technology has become a discursive channel for the world community to conduct ongoing discussions on films by Asians. By using the text in the comment column for the film Squid Game on IMDB.com as a case example, this article provides a discussion regarding the need to rethink the conceptual definition of orientalism today. This paper uses a digital research methodology with analysis tools using R Studio with two types of analysis, namely word cloud and sentiment analysis. By utilizing the programming language functions available in R Studio, this paper mines text from the IMDB.com comments column for the film Squid Game. This article contains results obtained from digital research methods, namely the Squid Game comments column focuses on characters, plot, acting and story. Meanwhile, sentiment analysis shows the dominance of positive sentiment and some negative sentiment. Therefore, this article argues that the battle between negative and positive sentiments in the Squid Game comments column is a means of resetting the negative stigma towards Asian films and eroding the orientalist attitudes that the West oppresses towards "the East."

Research in the digital age: Adopting digital methods in humanities and social sciences research in Sri Lankan universities

There has been phenomenal growth in the demand for digital technology for research in recent years. Versatile digital methods and the availability of large volumes of data are enabling different approaches to research. There is also a challenge in order to ensure researchers are aware and are equipped to use digital methods to support their particular research. During the recent period, the field of Humanities and Social Sciences has shifted away from its traditional defensive stance when the issue of impact is addressed. Globally, these fields utilize digital technology in facilitating computer-driven research for studying society, politics, culture, psychology, and economics in addition to humanities and fine arts. This paper presents the outcome of the research carried out in relation to the use of digital research methods among Humanities and Social Sciences academics at Sri Lankan universities. The significant findings of the study are: half of the academics are not familiar with digital research methods; therefore, more attention is needed to promote digital methods in Humanities and Social Sciences research; the adoption of digital methods is conditioned due to computer and digital literacy, infrastructure facilities, institutional and library support, positive attitudes, motivators, and academic discipline.

The Role of Aerial Prospection for Monitoring and Preserving Cultural Heritage in Northeastern Africa

Anthropogenic and environmental processes present unique challenges for preserving cultural heritage in North Africa. Large parts of this region are characterised by unfavourable arid and semi-arid conditions and rapid changes to the landscapes caused by heightened regional development (e.g., urban expansion, road building, agricultural intensification, and socio-political conflicts). As a result, we are facing a fast-paced disappearance of heritage sites in regions that are still poorly understood. Following this, the utilisation of Earth observation data through aerial photographs and satellite imagery has emerged as an unmatched tool in the exploration of endangered archaeological heritage. Drawing on this context, this paper underscores the critical significance of incorporating digital research methods, such as remote sensing, GIS, or cartographic analysis, to ensure the evaluation and (digital) preservation of the historical sites along these vulnerable areas. Furthermore, our study seeks to provide new insights into data management and dissemination, fostering open research practices within North African archaeological research.

Digital Feminist Placemaking: The Case of the “Woman, Life, Freedom” Movement

Throughout Iran and various countries, the recent calls of the “Zan, Zendegi, Azadi” (in Persian), “Jin, Jiyan, Azadi” (in Kurdish), or “Woman, Life, Freedom” (in English) movement call for change to acknowledge the importance of women. While these feminist protests and demonstrations have been met with brutality, systematic oppression, and internet blackouts within Iran, they have captured significant social media attention and coverage outside the country, especially among the Iranian diaspora and various international organizations. This article, grounded in feminist urban theories of the Global South, analyzes the digital feminist placemaking movement in Iran. As the first counter-revolution led by women, the movement utilizes digital art, graffiti, and protest movements to embody women’s solidarity groups and sympathy rallies. Our analysis employs various digital research methods, including social media scrutiny and the study of protest illustrations. Analyzing the digital feminist placemaking in Iran will enable us to compare the commonalities, differences, challenges, and opportunities between the minorities and majorities in the world’s countries. The outcomes of this research can help international organizations such as Amnesty International and the United Nations Agency for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (UN Women), as well as policymakers, institutions, academics, and NGOs, to highlight the various ways in which broader public participation could be encouraged in the process of digital feminist insurgent placemaking.

Bank of England Annuity Fraud: Forgery, Personation and the Consumer Revolution, 1766-1800

This article analyses convicted cases of annuity fraud published in the Old Bailey Criminal Court journal, The Proceedings, from 1766-1800. These cases were identified using digital research methods and the online database “The Proceedings of the Old Bailey, 1674-1913”. Defendants were found guilty on counts of forgery and personation in attempting to steal Bank of England annuities or annuity dividends. Annuity fraud was a specific type of securities fraud that often involved impersonation or what we might today call “identity theft”. This underexamined area of crime history is analysed in relation to the consumer revolution in eighteenth-century England.

ONLINE PEDAGOGICAL STUDIES: SEARCHES, BARRIERS AND NEW CONSTRUCTS

The article outlines state policy of Ukraine on implementing information, communication and digi-tal technologies in educational institutions of various types and forms of ownership. Special atten-tion is paid to online research as the main direction of scientific and pedagogical activity. Peculiari-ties of different types of research, such as Internet surveys via special applications, internet surveys on web pages and online focus groups, are revealed. Advantages and disadvantages of online in-depth interviews and other widely spread methods of research on the Internet are defined. Classifi-cations of online studies are presented, for example, one-time and recurring (special, continuous, evaluating, experimental, and panel research). The activity of the National Academy of Educational Sciences of Ukraine is characterized. Specific examples of online surveys of teachers during the last four years, their dynamics and effectiveness are described. The importance of online thesis researches in pedagogy is emphasized.It is proven that the methodology and methods of online research require further substantiation and constant updating of the conceptual terminological apparatus, which cannot be considered narrowly and develop within the framework of only one subject area (pedagogy, psychology, soci-ology, etc.). The interdisciplinarity of scientific research becomes an objective need. Psychopeda-gogy and digital pedagogy as scientific disciplines in the 21st century acquire special importance and are prospective branches of online research. The use of a complex of psycho-pedagogical and digital research methods has its specifics and requires the use of new interdisciplinary constructs under the conditions of digitalization.

Change Agility: A Paradigm of Change Acceptance for Organization Sustainability

In today’s business, the concept of change agility has become essential for an organization’s growth and survival. Change agility in an organization is about quickly adjusting and reacting to the changing needs of the business environment. Numerous experts point out that organizations that adapt to change agility focus more on creation and innovation through collaboration, resulting in organizational sustainability as a competitive advantage. The study’s key objective was to identify research gaps in change agility that needed further attention. This paper provides a comprehensive theoretical perspective that adds to the literature on change agility for organizational sustainability. The literature review was carried out using desk and digital research methods, and the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) approach was applied as the main method for data collection. An extensive review of scholarly articles published between 2000 and 2023 in the fields of change agility, change acceptance, and organizational sustainability was undertaken. Primarily, 110 articles were examined, and out of those, 72 were systematically reviewed. Through the analysis of previous studies on change agility and organizational sustainability, the researcher identified five main types of research gaps: knowledge, empirical, theoretical, contextual, and practical knowledge gaps. It’s important to note that there’s a clear lack of information in academic studies about what makes change agility unique and how it connects with different theories. The concepts of change agility for change acceptance remain largely unexplored in various disciplines. This paper suggests that more studies need to be carried out on change agility by identifying its dimensions, measurement, and methodologies, and aligning with the concept of organizational sustainability.

Corporate landlords and disruption through consolidation in post-crash Dublin’s private rental sector

The growing literature on housing financialisation and particularly the financialisation of private rental sector residential housing offers nuanced analysis of how international financial actors increasingly shape housing markets and systems across the globe. Drawing inspiration from Maalsen’s (2022) work on the hack, this paper suggests that corporate landlord investment in the private rental sector can be understood as a process of disruptive consolidation. Disruptive consolidation is introduced as a useful conceptual lens for connecting a) the disrupted urban contexts which institutional investors target for speculation, b) the practices of consolidation that institutional investors pursue in establishing their portfolios as corporate landlords, and c) the ensuing disruptive impacts for housing policy, urban space, and tenants’ lives. While post-crash housing financialisation and the disruption of the private rental sector are often connected to the application of digital technologies to screen, surveille, and assetise tenants, I suggest that the digital/material dynamics of housing financialisation also afford ambivalent opportunities for both research and resistance. The paper applies a combination of desktop-based digital research methods to document how private rental sector consolidation has unfolded in Dublin and the role that the state has played in setting this dynamic in motion. I make use of digital research methods as a tactical appropriation of digital technologies to show how post-crash Dublin is an emblematic example of disruption through consolidation, demonstrating how this framework can be applied to connect urban and political economy approaches to housing and its financialisation. I conclude by briefly signposting how disruptive consolidation raises pressing questions for housing policy in Dublin and elsewhere.

Bathroom stories: Capturing embodied practices through screen‐mediated relatedness

Online ethnography is often criticized for being less immersive than traditional ethnography. However, this article argues that the digital medium offers a distinctive way to connect researchers with their interlocutors. Online ethnography can help balance being intimate while respecting research participants by maintaining appropriate distance in anthropological fieldwork. The article presents a case study of bathrooms during the Covid‐19 pandemic. It shows that online ethnography, which only allows access to what is seen and heard on the screen, creates a more limited, transient, flexible and ambiguous relationship with the research participants. This unique form of relatedness makes them more open to sharing their stories, images and videos about their bodily practices in bathrooms. The article emphasizes the potential of digital research methods to reveal the details of embodied practices. It invites anthropologists to explore the different ways of relating to digital and physical spaces in research.

Co-Created and Student-led Teaching Materials

Undergraduate students' research experience is important as it allows them to gain the necessary skills required for future opportunities. Affording students various opportunities to work with faculty on research during their undergraduate degree provides a rich learning opportunity. This paper advocates for student and faculty partnerships at the undergraduate level, where students and faculty work collaboratively. ITA235, Cucina Italiana: Italian History and Culture Through Food (University of Toronto Mississauga) acts as a model for student-led research, which includes a large component of student and faculty collaboration. The FOODWAYS project is a teaching resource currently being developed, and is housed within the course as an Experiential Learning (EL) opportunity. Through participating in the FOODWAYS research project, students have exposure to various digital humanities research methods and work in partnership with faculty and graduate student researchers to broaden their research skill set.

Accessibility and Usage of Digital Technologies among Academics for Research: A Case of Selected Humanities and Social Sciences Faculties in Sri Lankan Universities

The Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS) involve understanding the human experience and the relationships between individuals and groups in society. The adoption of digital technologies has challenged the discipline of HSS, creating an entirely new environment for the study of human activities. This research aims to explore the employment of digital tools, resources and services in HSS research. Further, the use of digital methods (DM) throughout the research process; the impact of COVID-19 on the use of DM in research; the constraints of using DM in research were tested. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected from Colombo, Kelaniya and Sri Jayewardenepura universities targeting academics in Economics, English, English Language Teaching, Geography, History and Archeology, Buddhist Studies, Political Science, Sinhala, and Sociology. Considering the digital infrastructure facilities, most of the academics rated email (45.6%) and LMS services (46.7%) as excellent but maintenance provided by the institute was not adequate. Most academics rated good on access to data storage (37.9%); reference management software (27.5%); plagiarism detection software (29.1%); institutional repository (35.2%); and support to online publications (39.6%) provided by their institutes. 55.7% of surveyed academics in SS often use digital data collection methods while in the Humanities it was 43.4%. Online publishing was most often used by SS (50.9%) and only 39.5% by the Humanities. 53.8% of SS academics and 43.4% of humanities academics often use cloud storage. Findings confirmed the expansion of using digital research methods during the pandemic compared to the early pandemic situation. Collaborative research works, virtual conferences, citation databases and digital indexing were identified as popular trends.

CONCEPTUALIZING ADVERTISING RESEARCHES OF MEASURING ADVERTISING EFFECTIVENESS

This paper aims to address this gap by providing a comprehensive conceptualization of advertising research that focuses on measuring advertising effectiveness. Drawing on a thorough review of the literature, this paper provides an overview of the concept of advertising effectiveness and the different approaches to measuring it. The paper then explores the various types of advertising research that have been conducted, including qualitative and quantitative research, as well as traditional and digital research methods. The challenges associated with measuring advertising effectiveness, such as the difficulty in establishing causality and the impact of external factors, are also discussed. One key contribution of this paper is the proposal of a framework for conducting effective advertising research, which includes clearly defining research objectives, selecting appropriate research methods, and considering the limitations and potential biases in the research design. The framework is intended to help researchers and practitioners to conduct research that is more effective and efficient in measuring advertising effectiveness. Overall, this paper aims to contribute to the understanding of advertising research by providing a comprehensive and up-to-date overview of the field. It is hoped that the proposed framework will be useful in guiding future research and practice, ultimately leading to more effective and efficient advertising campaigns.

Entering the Digital Research Age: Investigating the Effectiveness of Visual Digital Tools in Agricultural Research

Agricultural studies mainly rely on quantitative research approaches. Despite growing interest in and uptake of qualitative, participatory, and visual methods due to their perceived advantages in gathering in-depth information and empowering participants, visual–digital research methods have yet to be largely applied. In our study on adaptation strategies to climate change among smallholder farmers in Uganda we compared different data collection methods, including: semi-structured interviews with manual note-taking, participatory impact diagrams, and adapted photovoice and cellphilm methodologies.

Contributions of digital social research to develop Telemedicine in Calabria (Southern Italy): identification of inequalities in post-COVID-19.

The paper discusses the role that sociology and digital social research methods could play in developing E-health and Telemedicine, specifically after the COVID-19 pandemic, and the possibility of dealing with new pandemics. In this article, we will reflect on an interdisciplinary research pilot project carried out by a team of sociologists, medical doctors, and software engineers at The University of Calabria (Italy), to give a proof of concept of the importance to develop Telemedicine through the contribution of digital social research. We apply a web and app survey to administrate a structured questionnaire to a self-selected sample of the University Community. Digital social research has highlighted socioeconomic and cultural gaps that affect the perception of Telemedicine in the University Community. In particular, gender, age, educational, and professional levels influence medical choices and behaviors during Covid-19. There is often an unconscious involvement in Telemedicine (people use it but don't know it is Telemedicine), and an optimistic perception grows with age, education, professional, and income levels; equally important are the comprehension of digital texts and the effective use of Telemedicine. Limited penetration of technological advances must be addressed primarily by overcoming sociocultural and economic barriers and developing knowledge and understanding of digital environments. The key findings of this study could help direct public and educational policies to reduce existing gaps and promote Telemedicine in Calabria.

Digital Ethnography? Our Experiences in the Use of SenseMaker for Understanding Gendered Climate Vulnerabilities amongst Marginalized Agrarian Communities

Digital innovations and interventions can potentially revolutionize agri-food systems, especially in coping with climate challenges. On a similar note, digital research tools and methods are increasingly popular for the efficient collection and analysis of real-time, large-scale data. It is claimed that these methods can also minimize subjective biases that are prevalent in traditional qualitative research. However, given the digital divide, especially affecting women and marginalized communities, these innovations could potentially introduce further disparities. To assess these contradictions, we piloted SenseMaker, a digital ethnography tool designed to capture individual, embodied experiences, biases, and perceptions to map vulnerabilities and resilience to climate impacts in the Gaya District in Bihar. Our research shows that this digital tool allows for a systematic co-design of the research framework, allows for the collection of large volumes of data in a relatively short time, and a co-analysis of the research data by the researchers and the researched. This process allowed us to map and capture the complexities of intersectional inequalities in relation to climate change vulnerability. However, we also noted that the application of the tool is influenced by the prior exposure to technology (digital devices) of both the enumerators and researched groups and requires significant resources when implemented in contexts where there is a need to translate the data from local dialects and languages to more dominant languages (English). Most importantly, perceptions, positionalities, and biases of researchers can significantly impact the design of the tool’s signification framework, reiterating the fact that researcher bias persists regardless of technological innovations in research methodology.

Middelnederlandse en historische letterkunde na de ‘turbo-mediëvistiek’

This contribution looks back on a period of 35 years of Middle Dutch Studies, through the perspective of the retirement of Frits van Oostrom, who played a central role in the field in the past few decades. Starting from a 1989 volume in which Van Oostrom, along with Frank Willaert and several other specialists of Middle Dutch Literature, looked towards the present and future of the field, I aim to gauge whether their expectations have come true. Supported by the work of fellow scholars who have discussed general developments in the field of Middle Dutch Studies in the past, I aim to draw a balance of the field’s position in terms of international dialogue, digital research methods, methodological innovation and the broader embeddedness in the (diachronic) study of Dutch literature.

Tablet Versus Quick Response Code: Difference in Research Participation Rates?

Conducting research with immunocompromised populations, especially within the context of a global pandemic, warrants consideration of alternative research methods and modes of administration to keep participants safe. Digital and internet-based research methods have been utilized to minimize the risk of harm with cancer patients; however, adolescents and young adults with cancer (AYAs) remain an under served and understudied population with high levels of unmet needs. The purpose of the current study was to examine differences in AYA research participation rates based on two digital survey administration methods (tablet versus QR code). AYAs were randomly assigned to complete an online survey using either a tablet or quick response (QR) code, and participation rates in each group were compared. The total participation rate was 22.9%, with 75% of completed surveys from the tablet group and 25% from the QR code group. While the use of a QR code allows for reduced costs for in-clinic recruitment and may be the most sanitary option during COVID-19, eligible patients in the current study showed trends of increased engagement using a sanitized tablet. It is important to consider how psychosocial research and electronic surveys are administered, as the method may impact recruitment and/or information obtained.

Digital Archives, Digital Cultures: An Opportunity for German Studies

Digital Archives, Digital Cultures:An Opportunity for German Studies Thorsten Ries (bio) "die geräte klüger als ihre besitzer / rechnen sich bis zu programnmen und knälen vor." This text fragment was located between other born-digital drafts in a digital [End Page 136] document file, which the author preserved in his personal born-digital archive. In this draft of the poem ausfahrt st nazaire, which was partially inspired by 9/11, Speier also experimented with concepts of concrete poetry and this draft's digital materiality: he integrated automatically generated HTML and CSS code into his poetic draft and rewrote the code into verse. "the devices smarter than their owners / <DIV><STRONG>wer berechnet seine Stille</STRONG></DIV>"—Speier's tentative code scriptum continues the long negotiation and renegotiation of poetic agency between the writer and their tool, writing scene, and its context that scholars have followed through Klopstock's Arbeitstagebuch,1 Hölderlin's manuscripts, Nietzsche's typescripts ("unser schreibzeug arbeitet mit an unseren gedanken"),2 and which is continued in the unease some authors feel about the limitations of their graphical writing interfaces,3 as well as in the form of digital literature, digitally generated literature ("Schreibenlassen"), and code poetry.4 Research on personal born-digital archives, preserved according to forensic standards, could be described as a continuation of the philological program, analytic bibliography, scholarly editing, and the critique génétique with digital forensic means in the digital age: the recovery of born-digital drafts, draft fragments, corrupted data, and other traces of the writing process from hard drives, storage media, and even the cloud, serves the purpose of the philological reconstruction of the literary writing process. Although media-specific analysis of historical digital materiality is highly specific, the reconstruction of traces of the writing process from Michael Speier's, Thomas Kling's,5 and other authors' hard drives6 at the same time sheds light on the authors' hybrid writing practices between analogue and digital, as well as on a new type of material digital record: paragenetic traces of the word processor.7 Depending on the specific historical design of the system's ensemble of hardware, operating system, and application, crashes of the word processor system can actually lead to retention and preservation of draft text material. Literary production has changed its shape in the digital age, and recent studies on the hybrid materiality of some of the earliest born-digital literary and cultural code works, such as Lutz's Stochastische Texte, and Weizenbaum's ELIZA,8 demonstrate that literary archives are collecting and preserving born-digitals as well as digital literature beyond hypertext. Without stepping into complications associated with the term "media archaeology," one could draw a line from Friedrich Kittler's reading of hard- and software architectures as a technological document of historical dispositives and cultural technological history9 to Jean-Francois Blanchette's multilayered design histories of hard- and software architectures10 and to Matthew Kirschenbaum's "forensic materiality" of digital media.11 The digital forensic perspective on born-digital has not only an archival and literary dimension for German studies and its integration with Digital Humanities research methods and methodology. Under a digital culture perspective, the German USENET [End Page 137] and early web history still require scholarly investigation as cultural spaces and its preservation is materially precarious. First attempts have been made to tackle conceptual and practical issues of the preservation of German "diskmag" culture.12 But if we consider taking digital German culture studies seriously as part of German studies, we might have to include the Chaos Computer Club's Hackerbibel, the texts and code by the German feminist hackers around Rena Tangens (codename Haecksen), and nerd pop culture products like the German Perry Rhodan sci-fi series in our canon, next to Elfriede Jelinek's Ich Ding der Unmöglichkeit and Sibylle Berg's Nerds retten die Welt. A digital forensic perspective would also be applied, under a broader digital history and digital cultures perspective, in research projects on German polarized political discourse and misinformation in online and social media networks. Thorsten Ries thorsten ries (thorsten.ries@austin.utexas.edu) an assistant professor at the Department of Germanic...