Siamack Salari gave a presentation at the NewMR Mobile Event on February 22nd, 2012. He discussed the differences between traditional qualitative research methods ("orchards") and less controlled methods using everyday people ("wild fruit"). Salari argued that mobile technologies allow researchers to adopt methods from the latter approach, engaging with participants more naturally and collaboratively. This can provide rich, spontaneous insights while also addressing ethical issues through informed consent processes on mobile. In conclusion, Salari believes these "wild fruit" methods may be the future of more emancipatory and naturalistic research.

1. A
Presenta*on
from
The
NewMR
Mobile
Event
22
February
2012
Event
sponsored
by
Vision
Cri1cal
All
copyright
owned
by
The
Future
Place
and
the
presenters
of
the
material
For
more
informa1on
about
Vision
Cri1cal
visit
www.visioncri1cal.com
For
more
informa1on
about
NewMR
events
visit
newmr.org
Farmers
vs
Hunter
Gatherers
Siamack
Salari,
EthOS

2. Speaker: Siamack Salari, EthOS, Belgium
NewMR Mobile Event, 22 Feb 2012, Session 2
Farmers
vs
Hunter
Gatherers
EthOS

3. Speaker: Siamack Salari, EthOS, Belgium
NewMR Mobile Event, 22 Feb 2012, Session 2
Cross
roads
approaching
The
tradi1onal
qualita1ve
vs
quan1ta1ve
divide
is
being
replaced
by
wild
fruit
and
orchards
–
John
Griffiths

4. Speaker: Siamack Salari, EthOS, Belgium
NewMR Mobile Event, 22 Feb 2012, Session 2
Why?
• Research
industry
is
about
industrial,
controlled
research
• Yet
wild
fruit
exist
in
everywhere
–
next
door
neighbour,
social
networking
sites,
blogs
and
the
like.
We
can
filter
out
the
good
from
the
bad.
And
the
good
can
be
extremely
good
• Mobile
research
will
allow
hunter
gatherers
to
make
a
comeback

5. Speaker: Siamack Salari, EthOS, Belgium
NewMR Mobile Event, 22 Feb 2012, Session 2
Why
mobile
is
not
all
it
seems
Par1cipant
observa1on
• Able
to
capture
naturally
occurring
events
as
they
happen
• No
disrup1on
caused
by
asking
ques1ons
at
the
point
of
capture
• No
knowledge
of
study
objec1ves
so
minimal
performances
-­‐
eliminated
by
researchers
• Minimal
risk
of
respondent
fa1gue
Self
ethnography
• Showing
and
telling
–
based
on
tasks
and
ques1ons
• Self
edited
(decision
to
capture
becomes
data)
• Instant
ra1onalisa1on
needed/
given
with
most
entries
–
risk
performances
• Respondents
will
get
1red
of
showing
you
things
(my
diet)

6. Speaker: Siamack Salari, EthOS, Belgium
NewMR Mobile Event, 22 Feb 2012, Session 2
Differences
Orchards
• Consent
form/screener
becomes
‘contract’
to
behave
as
stated
• Professional
respondents
• Transac1onal
–
the
need
to
give
researcher
what
they
need
• ‘Experts’
add
meaning
alone
Wild
fruit
• No
consent
transac1on
–
minimal
incen1ve
• ‘Real’
people
• Real,
spontaneous,
unprompted
behaviour
and
replies
• Emancipate
people,
involve
them
and
allow
them
to
contribute
to
meaning
being
added

7. Speaker: Siamack Salari, EthOS, Belgium
NewMR Mobile Event, 22 Feb 2012, Session 2
Differences
Orchards
• Carefully
screened
• Empahsis
on
what
they
do
Wild
fruit
• Loosely
screened
• Equal
emphasis
on
what
they
don’t
do/nearly
do

8. Speaker: Siamack Salari, EthOS, Belgium
NewMR Mobile Event, 22 Feb 2012, Session 2
Who
are
hunter
gatherers?
• Ordinary
people
who
have
access
to
networks
including
their
own
• They
– are
not
respondents,
they
work
with
respondents/
neighbours/family
– become
key
informants
– fill
in
knowledge
gaps
• Provide
all
the
benefits
of
par1cipant
observers
• Free
researchers
to
focus
on
adding
meaning
and
understanding

9. Speaker: Siamack Salari, EthOS, Belgium
NewMR Mobile Event, 22 Feb 2012, Session 2
Privacy
&
ethics
challenge
• From
EU’s
twelve
golden
rules
of
ethical
research:
“Informed
consent
gives
the
subject
a
sense
of
control
over
their
personal
informa1on
or
alleviates
the
fear
that
the
data,
samples
or
informa1on
will
be
retained
or
used
in
any
other
unintended
manner”
• Consent
forms
do
not
allow
for
‘mission
creep’
• There
is
no
such
thing
as
‘informed
consent’
–
context,
mode
and
a`tude
changes
over
1me
• Mobile
tools
can
turn
this
situa1on
around…

10. Speaker: Siamack Salari, EthOS, Belgium
NewMR Mobile Event, 22 Feb 2012, Session 2
Mobile
solu1on
• ‘Receipt’
sent
to
‘wild
apples’
as
they
are
filmed,
photographed,
interviews
• Receipt
sent
as
a
link
to
their
image
to
allow
them
to
take
their
1me
over
whether
they
want
to
take
part
in
explora1ons
–
or
else
‘remove
me!’
• Follow
your
images
over
1me
–
how
many
downloads,
why?,
comments
added,
codes
added
and
respondent
decides
when
to
stop
access
to
their
image

11. Speaker: Siamack Salari, EthOS, Belgium
NewMR Mobile Event, 22 Feb 2012, Session 2
Are
wild
apples
the
future?
• Research
has
the
poten1al
to
become
more
naturalis1c,
emancipatory
and
collabora1ve
• Let’s
spend
less
1me
asking,
more
1me
watching
and
listening.
• We
have
the
tools
to
do
this
1me
and
cost
effec1vely
• What
are
we
wai1ng
for?

12. Speaker: Siamack Salari, EthOS, Belgium
NewMR Mobile Event, 22 Feb 2012, Session 2
Thank you
Siamack Salari
EthOS

13. Speaker: Siamack Salari, EthOS, Belgium
NewMR Mobile Event, 22 Feb 2012, Session 2
Q & A
Ray
Poynter
Vision
Cri1cal
Siamack
Salari
EthOS

14. Speaker: Siamack Salari, EthOS, Belgium
NewMR Mobile Event, 22 Feb 2012, Session 2
Siamack Salari
Read
Siamack’s
blog
@
hdp://www.ethnosnacker.com/
Follow
Siamack’s
tweets
at
@
hdp://twider.com/siamacksalari
Connect
with
Siamack
on
LinkedIn
@
hdp://www.linkedin.com/in/everydaylives

15. A
Presenta*on
from
The
NewMR
Mobile
Event
22
February
2012
Event
sponsored
by
Vision
Cri1cal
All
copyright
owned
by
The
Future
Place
and
the
presenters
of
the
material
For
more
informa1on
about
Vision
Cri1cal
visit
www.visioncri1cal.com
For
more
informa1on
about
NewMR
events
visit
newmr.org
Farmers
vs
Hunter
Gatherers
Siamack
Salari,
EthOS