[Air-L] a question about privacy protection and copyright in Internet research

[Philippa Smith]

This discussion has been fascinating. I tend to side with Jeremy in this
debate particularly his point of view regarding  the analysis of texts 
as being viewed as different from  the analysis of human subjects -
though admittedly there are grey areas  and this is my own opinion
particularly in relation to my research of a blog posting and
discussion.  
 
I guess my main concern in looking at the very interesting
'conversations' that have been occurring through  AOIR in recent days -
and it is great that AOIR listserv enables this to take place allowing a
cross-fertilization of ideas -  is that if extreme views are taken about
privacy and ethics and copyright the possibility of conducting very
valuable research  is  severely impeded which is sad from an academic
perspective.  The Internet is where so much is happening - we shouldn't
ignore it and we may be worse off for the lack of it.  The problem is
finding the right balance ethically and legally and my impression is
there is no "one size fits all" answer -  almost every situation of 
research is  potentially different.  I'm not sure that I have any
answers but it does raise the question of whether there can be any
protection for Internet researchers that is supported by AOIR?
 
Just my thoughts!
 
Philippa
 
 
Philippa Smith
PhD Candidate
Institute of Culture, Discourse & Communication
AUT University
Auckland
NEW ZEALAND
 
>>> jeremy hunsinger <jhuns at vt.edu> 5/11/2011 5:23 a.m. >>>
I tend to put reflexivity in the category of judgment.  and no i am not
saying this is going to be 'unethical' or that we shouldn't use ethics,
what i am saying is that, we should resist the temptation to make public
documents into questions of human subjects.   But we just need to be as
clear as we can in this area as to what the ethical considerations are. 


In regards to the twitter example and most 'harm' arguments I find it
fruitful to discuss... where the harm began and who is perpetrating it
in respect to what.   I have a private twitter account and people have
used it for research, in what sense is my twitter private, in what sense
could i be harmed any more than I actually have consented to by using
twitter?  


On May 10, 2011, at 12:37 PM, Alex Halavais wrote:

> I'm glad for the clarification, because now I know I disagree :).
> 
> The cases where the published documents ("texts") actually are
> relevant to human subjects seem to be the area that is most
> interesting to me. And I suspect that there is not a single
published
> document that does not require the researcher to be ethically
> reflexive in that regard.
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jeremy hunsinger
Center for Digital Discourse and Culture
Virginia Tech

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