[Air-l] analyzing deliberation

Matthias Trenel trenel at wz-berlin.de
Wed Feb 16 01:28:17 PST 2005


Hello all,

I thought I should let you know that Jennifer Stromer-Galley and myself have
established a mailing list specifically for researchers that analyze
deliberation processes (both face-to-face and online). The primary purpose
of the list as I understand it is to povide an opportunity to discuss
methodological and theoretical issues that surface when we investigate
deliberation processes, e.g. which categories/dimensions to use for content
analysis, which programs to use for content analysis, which cases to select,
...

It seems as if there are a lot of researchers out there that are involved in
similar research on deliberation thus sharing common interests and facing
similar challenges. However, it also seems as if we could do better to
connect to each other for mutual support, which is why we established this
list. Please join at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/deliberation_research (or
send a mail to trenel at wz-berlin.de).

Maybe the conference below can be an opportunity for some of us to meet up!
Greetings,

Matthias


+++


                    *** Call for Participation ***

                2nd Conference on Online Deliberation:
                    Design, Research, and Practice
                               DIAC 2005

                 Website: www.online-deliberation.net

                            May 20-22, 2005
                  Stanford University, Stanford, CA

Abstract deadline: March 15, 2005

The Second Conference on Online Deliberation: Design, Research, and Practice
/
DIAC 2005, will be held at Stanford University from Friday through Sunday,
May
20-22, 2005. This conference is a follow-up to "Developing and Using Online
Tools for Deliberative Democracy", a two-day seminar which was held at
Carnegie Mellon University in June, 2003. At the end of the CMU conference,
participants agreed to have a follow-up meeting at Stanford.  We would like
to
solidify the conference as a regular event, and to discuss the possibility
of
establishing a new society for online deliberation that will bring together
researchers, designers, and
practitioners whose work bears on this area.  This conference is also the
latest in a series of conferences on Directions and Implications of Advanced
Computing (DIAC), presented in association with the Public Sphere Project (a
CPSR Initiative).

We welcome proposals for presentations and workshops from both within and
outside academia. An edited volume of abstracts and selected full papers
from
the conference is planned for publication afterward through CSLI
Publications,
a division of the University of Chicago Press. Topics of interest include:

* Online deliberation and groupware design
* Computer-supported cooperative work
* Uses and implications of the Internet for democratic participation *
E-consultation and E-rulemaking
* Online facilitation and community-building
* Research on virtual communities
* Uses of groupware in organizations
* Online learning communities
* Social decision procedures for online environments
* Analyzing online dialogue
* Email and listservs
* Chatrooms and instant messaging
* Message boards and blogs
* Collaborative editing and wikis
* Online organizing and petitions
* Teleconferencing
* Mobile communication and "smart mobs"
* Smart rooms and iRooms
* Immersive virtual environments
* Multilingual online communities and machine translation
* Secure communication and voting
* Information systems support for deliberation
* Lessons from "offline" deliberation and democracy
* Distributed design
* IP, ownership and "copyleft"
* Digital divides, usability, and accessibility
* Free speech and censorship online
* Communication across platforms

All of the above topics bear on whether Internet tools for deliberation can
truly deepen democracy -- in groups, communities, and societies --and, if
so,
how. But work on these topics is spread over many and diverse disciplines:
computer science, the social sciences, education, law, public policy,
philosophy, social work, and information science, just to name a few. It
involves scholars, designers, and practitioners from all over the world.
This
conference, like the one at CMU in 2003, is an attempt to bring these
perspectives together so that we can all widen our horizons.

The focus of the conference is not the Internet, society, and politics
generally, but rather work that is especially related to online
deliberation tools and their use. "Deliberation" denotes "thoughtful,
careful,
or lengthy consideration" by individuals, and "formal discussion and debate"
in groups (Collins English Dictionary, 1979). We are therefore primarily
interested in online communication that is reasoned, purposeful, and
interactive, but the power and predominance of other influences on political
decisions (e.g. mass media, appeals to emotion and authority, and snap
judgements) obviously make them relevant to the prospects for deliberative
e-democracy. Topics such as technology policy and social networks are of
interest, but proposals around such topics for this conference should relate
them to online deliberation.

Proposals should be submitted under one of the following categories:

PAPER PRESENTATION
A proposal to present a paper may include an abstract of up to 300 words.
Accepted authors will have until May 1 to upload a draft of their full paper
so that conference attendees and an assigned discussant can read it before
the
conference.  Paper presenters will have between 15 and 25 minutes to present
their paper, depending on the time available in the final schedule.  A
limited
number of papers will be selected for full-text print publication in a book
that will be issued after the conference. Authors who are invited to publish
their paper in the edited volume will have until July 1 to produce
camera-ready copy.  Papers that are not included in the book willl have
their
abstracts published instead.

DEMO OR TALK
A proposal to give a demonstration or talk may include an abstract of up to
300 words, which should describe the presentation that is being proposed.
Accepted presenters will be given 15-25 minutes to present their work,
depending on the time available in the final schedule. Presenters may, at
their option, upload full papers on the conference web site prior to the
conference, but a discussant will not be assigned if the submission is made
in
a category other than "paper presentation".
Abstracts will be published in the edited volume that will be issued after
the
conference.

PANEL OR SHORT WORKSHOP A proposal for a panel or short workshop may include
an abstract of up to 500 words.  The abstract should include the names of
proposed presenters or hosts, as well as a description of the proposed
workshop/panel.  Workshops/panels are expected to last about 75 minutes.
Presenters/participants may, at their option, upload full papers on the
conference web site prior to the conference.  Abstract-length (500 word)
summaries of each workshop/panel will be published in the edited volume that
will be issued after the conference, and will be due from the workshop/panel
organizers by June 1.  The conference online discusssion forum (linked from
the conference homepage) is available as a venue for networking on panel and
workshop proposals.

EXTENDED WORKSHOP A proposal for an extended workshop may include an
abstract
of up to 700 words.  The abstract should include the names of proposed
presenters or hosts, as well as a description of the proposed workshop.
Workshops are expected to last either for a hafl day or a full day.  If a
proposal is not accepted as an extended workshop, the proposed
presenters/hosts may be offered the opportunity to do a short workshop
instead.  Participants may, at their option, upload full papers to the
conference web site prior to the conference. Abstract-length (700 word)
summaries of each workshop will be published in the edited volume that will
be
issued after the conference, and will be due from the workshop organizers by
June 1.  The conference online discussion forum (linked from the conference
homepage) is available as a venue for networking on workshop proposals.

The conference will be held at Stanford University in rooms equipped with
overhead and laptop projection equipment, screens, and chalkboards.
Presenters
will need to take responsibility for any computer equipment, slides, or
other
audio-visual aids needed for their presentations.

If space is available, we will try to facilitate impromptu workshops and
group
discussions that are organized informally during the conference. Organizers
of
these discussions will also be invited to submit 300-word summaries at the
conclusion of the conference for publication in the edited volume.

Co-sponsored by the Symbolic Systems Program, the Center for Deliberative
Democracy, the Center for the Study of Language and Information, and the
Center for Internet and Society at Stanford University, in association with
the Public Sphere Project (a CPSR Initiative)

For more information, consult the conference website:
http://www.online-deliberation.net/conf2005.





---

Dipl. Psych. Matthias Trénel

trenel at wz-berlin.de
http://www.wz-berlin.de/~trenel

Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin fuer Sozialforschung
Abteilung Zivilgesellschaft und transnationale Netzwerke
Social Science Research Center Berlin
Research Unit Civil Society and Transnational Networks
Reichpietschufer 50
10785 Berlin
Tel: 	  +49 30 25491 281
Mobile: +49 172 320 3210
Fax: 	  +49 30 25491 254




More information about the Air-L mailing list