Welcome to the fourth and finale blog post! We are only four weeks in, and already so much has changed and our digital artefact ‘Almondmlk&co’ has progressed quite a bit. I thought I would start this post with a bit of contextual knowledge. As stated in last weeks post, aesthetics is a branch of philosophy which deals with the nature of taste and beauty. Aesthetics often assists in establishing a tone, mood or style, as well as exploring subjective or sensory-emotional values (Zangwill, 2019). If an Instagram account has an aesthetic, it generally means the feed follows the same theme and tones throughout, creating an aesthetically pleasing and appealing look.
From a theoretical standpoint of research, a paradigm is considered a way of viewing the world. In ethnography, this is even more pronounced as the methodology is subjective. A paradigm is a set of ideas which influences how we analyse and interpret data. There are numerous paradigmatic frameworks one may adopt in a research project to assist in analysing research findings. For my digital artefact, I will be adopting the framework of interpretivism as I believe it is best suited to my niche. Interpretivism is commonly linked to topics with grey areas, for instance, society. Gaining insight into how or why someone acts or feels can not be determined through statistics or numerical data. Instead, it is uncovered through words, behaviours and actions. An interpretive researcher focuses on the meanings that people bring to experiences and their behaviours, and the ways they employ this to interpret the world. Myer (2008) states “interpretive researchers assume that access to reality is only through social constructions such as language, consciousness, shared meanings and instruments” (p1).
In every research project, there are several considerations researchers must be aware of to ensure they conduct appropriate practices. A vital aspect of this is ethics. Ethics is a moral philosophy or discipline concerned with what is morally good against what is morally bad or wrong. Upholding ethical principles in research practices is crucial for various reasons. Firstly, ethical conduct promotes the aims of research e.g. truth, knowledge and avoidance of error. Secondly, since research involves collaboration and cooperation with other people, ethical standards promote the values vital to collaborative work e.g. accountability, trust and anonymity. (Resnik, 2015). Principles such as integrity, validity and confidentiality are all significant components when conducting research.
Appropriate credibility and the fair use of other’s photos is our primary ethical consideration for our project. We are aiming to source our own pictures for our Instagram page. However, considering the current pandemic, it may be difficult to take new ones that illustrate the almond milk aesthetic. In response, we will be crediting every photo we post as well as crediting the source in the caption. In addition to this, our Instagram feed will maintain a clean and appropriate appeal to reduce any potential harm or unrest amongst viewers.
All participants who engage in our digital artefact will be aware of our objectives and observations as we ethnographically research our niche. To uphold ethical principles, all participants will remain anonymous and any information they provide us will remain confidential. If at any point they wish to be removed from our study we will be more than happy to do so. Ensuring all participants feel comfortable throughout the research process is one of our primary focuses. By implementing these ethical standards I believe we will conduct a well-rounded, ethical project.
References:
Moore, C., (2020). BCM241: Ethnographic Research Methods And Methodologies. UOW [Accessed 20 August 2020].
Myers, M.D. (2008) “Qualitative Research in Business & Management” SAGE Publications
Resnik, D., (2015). What Is Ethics In Research & Why Is It Important?. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, pp.1-2. Available at: <http://nook.cs.ucdavis.edu/~koehl/Teaching/ECS188/Reprints/Ethics_Research_NIH.pdf> [Accessed 13 August 2020].
Zangwill, N., (2019) “Aesthetic Judgment”, The Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy (Spring 2019 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), <https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2019/entries/aesthetic-judgment/>.
Leonard K 