Anthropologist and former postdoctoral associate in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at Western University.
Works as a freelance copy editor.
Ethics Hum Res. 2024 Sep-Oct;46(5):13-25. doi: 10.1002/eahr.500222.
Drawing on the authors' own ethnographic research, this article discusses the importance of developing polymedia literacy as a key step toward ethical online research on social networking sites (SNS). Polymedia literacy entails the ability to critically analyze the vast landscape of SNS, their affordances, and users' social motivations for choosing specific SNS for their interactions. Internet researchers face several ethical challenges, including issues of informed consent, "public" and "private" online spaces, and data protection. Even when research ethics committees waive the need for a formal ethics approval process, researchers of online spaces need to ensure that their studies are conducted and presented in an ethical and responsible manner. This is particularly important in research contexts that pertain to vulnerable populations in online communities.
本文作者通过自身的民族志研究，探讨了培养多媒体素养作为在社交网站上进行合乎道德的在线研究的关键步骤的重要性。多媒体素养需要具备批判性地分析社交网站广阔领域、其功能以及用户选择特定社交网站进行互动的社会动机的能力。网络研究人员面临着几个伦理挑战，包括知情同意、“公共”和“私人”在线空间以及数据保护等问题。即使研究伦理委员会免除了对正式伦理审批程序的需求，在线空间的研究人员仍需要确保他们的研究以一种合乎道德和负责任的方式进行和呈现。在涉及在线社区中弱势群体的研究背景下，这一点尤为重要。
