Ph.D. course, Analytical strategies and methodologies for the study of virtual worlds, 28 September

1
Ph.D. course, Analytical strategies and
methodologies for the study of virtual worlds, 28
September -1 October 2009, RUC

• Analysing knowledge production processes in
  collaborative research on virtual worlds a
  multiperspectival approach
• Louise Phillips

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Presentation and group work main focus themes

• Empirical focus of case-study (see Phillips 2009,
  Analysing the dialogic turn in the communication
  of research-based knowledge an exploration of
  the tensions in collaborative research. Public
  Understanding of Science)
• how knowledge is co-produced through negotiation
  between knowledge forms, identities
  social/power relations among participants in
  collaborative research
• Two themes
• 1) how to reflect on analyse relations between
  you as researcher and the other research
  actors/participants/
• /informants/respondents using multiperspectival,
  analytical framework
• 2) How to analyse the negotiation of knowledge
  forms, (expert)identities power relations among
  social actors in empirical field under study

3
Presentation and group work Whats the plan?

• Part 1) Presentation that presents analytical
  framework with examples from case-study on
  collaborative research on virtual worlds
• Part 2) group work where we apply an analytical
  strategy to analyse a text extract and reflect on
  the relevance of that strategy for analysing
• (i) relations between researcher and researched
• (ii) different types of data from field under
  study

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Case-study on collaborative research on virtual
worlds

• What happens when university researchers invite
  other actors to join a collaborative research
  process as co-producers of knowledge?
• How is knowledge created through the negotiation
  of knowledge forms in social interaction among
  the different participating actors in
  collaborative research?
• A practical orientation How can that knowledge
  be used in both research and design?

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Multiperspectival analytical framework combining
3 perspectives on the tensions in dialogue-based
research communication practices

• Science Studies
• insights into tensions in shift to form of
  scientific governance based on rhetoric of
  dialogue citizen engagement.
• Action Research
• Insights into how research ideals in
  collaborative social scientific and
  humanities-based research are difficult to live
  up to in practice
• Dialogic communication theory
• Concept of dialogue as a quality of
  communication that entails remaining in the
  tension between maintaining ones own position
  whilst being open to the position of the other
  (Pearce and Pearce).
• Tension between creating a space for a plurality
  of voices and orchestrating the process, such
  that some kind of coherent structuring of voices
  is produced a chorus rather than a cacophony
  (Pearce and Pearce 2001 115).
• Point that dialogic moments can occur in
  non-dialogic talk (Black 2008)

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Specific questions

• What voices are articulated and when and how are
  they articulated and heard?
• To what extent, when, and how, does the
  interaction among collaborating actors open up
  for voices that construct plural forms of
  knowledge? (centrifugal tendency)6
• To what extent, when, and how does the
  interaction circumscribe the opening up for
  different voices and construct a singular project
  we and singular forms of knowledge?
  (centripetal tendency)

7
Inviting participants to join together in
collective knowledge production

• Susanne These are the design parameters that I
  have put together in a kind of matrix ... And I
  sat and put this together yesterday on the basis
  of the experiences which I have crystallised from
  my empirical material. Oh and it could be quite
  good fun to get you to use these parameters as a
  starting-point for getting discussions started
  Is that clear enough to get started? It
  would be quite a lot of fun to see what kinds of
  islands come out of it, depending on what you
  decide to discuss, .. how you could think of
  going about the design, its really up to you in
  your groups to work it out. There are some
  parameters to use as a basis for discussion. But
  if there is something where you say, here weve
  got a really good point and we would like you to
  remember it, and you would like to remember it
  yourselves, then write it down and we can gather
  them together and send them out to you. (workshop
  1, 3 April 2008).

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Negotiating expertise

• Anders Some say, no but my son also sits and
  plays the Sims. Its like that, right?
• They were the same age as me 48. But they
  sounded like my parents generation.
• People whore the same age as me and have had
  access to the internet for nearly 10
• years. They were blank when it came to Second
  Life and they hadnt a clue about what
• its about. I told them about the businesses in
  SL and that I rent them out. They didnt
• understand. It was a bit shocking. I can accept
  that my parents dont understand.
• Theres a 25-30 year age gap. But that those
  whore the same age as me dont
• understand it, that was a shocking experience.
• Philip But theres also something about how you
  communicate it to people. You can
• tell them that you borrow a server. Thats what
  it is in reality. You can boil it down to
• the technical part.
• Susanne Yes, instead of saying a virtual island.
  When you say a virtual island, people
• say oh or they laugh. But the other thing
  sounds so boring, right?
• Anders Yes, well, I completely agree. A server,
  its just a grey box that stands in the
• corner. And people can understand that, but again
  youre not communicating the
• potential or possibilities.
• Susanne No and not whats special about it
  either, that its object-oriented. (Kick-off
• workshop, 25 February 2008, lines 501-519)

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Negotiating knowledges

• Søren What I really want to hear about is if
  anyone thinks that its a completely wrong way of
  tackling it? Where you should start by talking to
  people instead, talking about visions rather than
  actual products (Workshop 2, 29 May 2008, lines
  304-306).

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Negotiating knowledges

• Mads I think as an architect you could say,
  right? When you say window-dressing. Well, what
  is of interest in my field, what Im interested
  in in Second Life, thats what kind of elements
  you use from reality and when you depart from
  that reality. That is, one uses what you call
  window-dressing, some of those things are also
  used to give scale .. There has to be some or
  other scale in order for you to feel at home and
  be able to orientate yourself. If there isnt any
  scale, youve got no possibility of orientation.
  
• Susanne What is scale?
• Mads Scale is something in relation to the
  physical body. Well, in this room, where we use
  chairs.
• Susanne Okay...

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Negotiating knowledges

• Mads If youre talking about architecture. You
  play on scale in order to carry out manipulative
  architecture, right? Scale is an important thing
  specifically in relation to virtuality, in order
  to be able to orient yourself. I think that some
  of what you call
• window-dressing maybe belongs to what I would
  call something that works to bring things to
  scale, so that you can orient yourself. Well, a
  chair that doesnt function can work to change
  some or other space which otherwise lacks scale
  so that it can be related to the physical body. I
  dont know. But maybe you can take this into
  consideration.
• Søren I will take it into account because its a
  good argument.
• (Workshop 2, 29 May 2008, lines 307-330)

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Summary of main points of case-study

• Tensions between centrifugal centripetal
  tendencies realized such that process is tightly
  managed by the university researchers
• But, at same time, dialogic moments occur as the
  university researchers are not always dominant
• the activities of knowledge production are framed
  as collective activities in which the partners
  are invited to participate
• and negotiations of expertise take place in which
  experience-based knowledge is privileged and
  partners are in some cases positioned as more
  knowledgeable

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Main points continued...

• Aim is not to work towards resolving these
  tensions
• Power relations and different knowledge interests
  
• are unavoidable (Foucault)
• Aim is to open up for reflexive deliberation
  among the
• collaborating actors in research focusing on
• how to open up more for a plurality of different
  voices increase the number of dialogic moments
• whilst recognising constraints imposed by need to
  produce a product that can satisfy all relevant
  actors.

14
Group-work

• Lets get on with it