Week 1 Response

In my first set of framing questions, the question that really interested me was the affect new technology has on research’s scope.

While doing research for my proposal, I tried to stick to more current information since I was looking into the digital divide and new technology.  I stuck to mostly information from the 2000s with some articles from the 1990s as well. What I generally noticed  was that there tends to be a lot of newer research that is trying to incorporate a global scope to their studies.

A lot of the earlier research is country-specific or even just audience-specific within a certain country. Some of the new research compares similar groups in separate countries. A lot of the research is trying to encompass global comparison – but they tend to break it down into the types of countries – developed or developing countries.

I feel like looking at the research, it’s rather hard to do global research. The scope is so vast and the time it takes to conduct research and aggregate the data would take so long. It’s easier for researchers to focus on their own countries, where they have a better idea of the motivations and cultural influences behind their subjects.

Also, I think you can draw on different sources to do a good in-depth anaylsis of the global situation of a certain topic as long as you can use good results. I’m still not sure how a global on-line survey would work, but I think in research it all comes down to specifically identifying the audience you are researching and reaching out to them, wherever they may be.

But when really looking at global research, it’s difficult to be parsimonious is any theories you may develop because there are so many exceptions, so many differences. Although to support theories, you need sound research, this research can come from individual countries and be used to support a general theory.

I found research from the US, England, Czech Republic, Korea, and China. I don’t know if I’ll be able to use some of those studies because I can’t really make knowledgeable statements about the cultural influences. Sure I could do even more research into those countries and I’m sure there’s information in the papers but it would be easier to focus on a smaller population to do more thorough research and to be more sure of whatever conclusions I may come to.

I just find it interesting how researchers choose their scope and methodologies and the future of research. Perhaps collaborative research across the globe can create comprehensive in-depth research papers in the future? I know these do exist, but maybe there will be more of them in the future?