Research Statement

INTRODUCTION

My areas of research interests can be categorized into three general areas –participatory or documentary photography, otherwise known as photovoice; the formation and sustenance of communities online and face to face; and diversity and social justice.

PHOTOVOICE

Photovoice has evolved from the discipline of visual anthropology. It combines three specific approaches in action: empowerment education and policy; feminist theory; and documentary photography. Drs. Caroline Wang and Dr. Mary Ann Burris, the two researchers and primary developers of photovoice, draw from the theoretical work of Paolo Freire. He posited that the visual image was a key element in allowing people to establish shared themes via dialogue. It allowed them to discuss common social and political forces influencing their existence. Wang & Burris use this in their theoretical framework for photovoice and advance it by enabling or empowering community members themselves to create those images. (Wang & Burris, 1997). As a professional and hobbyist lifestyle portrait photographer, I understand and embrace the importance of photography in the documentation of vital moments in one’s life. It provides a rich and vivid method of portraying one’s life story.

FORMING & SUSTAINING ONLINE SOCIAL COMMUNITIES

The formation and sustenance of communities online and face to face is drawn in part from the research of Dr. Elfreda Chatman; in particular, her theory of information poverty with regards to information worlds (in her theory, those worlds belonging to janitors, single mothers, and the elderly). Chatman discussed four concepts for defining an impoverished life-world/information poverty: risk-taking, secrecy, deception and situational relevance. Chatman’s main principle was that there was a difference between insiders and outsiders. Insiders share a common history, knowledge, culture, etc. with each other, and because of that social connection, share and impart information more freely than with outsiders, who do not have that social connection in the same way. She believed that insiders doubt the ability of outsiders to understand their worldview, which leads to secrecy and protection of that worldview and community (Chatman, 1996). It is my belief that this theoretical framework is applicable to relationships and communities forged online.

DIVERSITY & SOCIAL JUSTICE

Diversity and social justice focus on one specific subset of the overall topic – the theory of oppression. Lee Anne Bell describes oppression as the “pervasive nature of social inequality woven throughout social institutions as well as embedded within individual consciousness.” Rita Hardiman and Bailey Jackson, in discussing the conceptual framework for social oppression, says that social oppression exists when the following four elements are in place:

1. The group in power defines the standard reality and provides the accepted context for that reality.
2. Forms of harassment and marginalization, as well as unequal treatment, are a part of the institution. Acts committed may not be intentional, but are well embedded into the social structure of a society.
3. Those on the receiving end of the prejudice and discrimination (what Hardiman and Jackson call the targets, are socialized to believe the prejudice and inequality, and perpetuate those stereotypes as a part of their reality.
4. The target group is assimilated – evidence of its original culture, language, and history are misrepresented and erased to the benefit of the group in power, which imposes its culture on the oppressed.

I am vested in this particular area out of personal experience: as an Asian American woman growing up in predominately Caucasian neighborhoods and also attending school (elementary through graduate education), I have witnessed and experienced myself various elements of social oppression, from racism to sexism.

PLANS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH
Plans for future research in this area include exploring the various intersection of these areas – for instance, examining how elements of social oppression impact how communities of individuals are formed and maintained. I am interested in learning more about how self-identified people of color use social networks, and how that differs from those in the majority population. Other strong interests include investigating the use of photovoice or documentary photography in the formation and sustenance of online and face to face social communities, and the use of mobile photography in the organization of mass political and social protests in northern Africa.

CURRENT RESEARCH ACCOMPLISHMENTS
In the fall of 2010, as a student in Dr. Melissa Gross’ Research Methods seminar, I began a literature review on social communities – their formation and how information is exchanged within those communities. During the spring of 2011 and continuing through the summer of 2011, I am working with Dr. Kathleen Burnett in an extensive literature review exploring the convergence of Library and Information Studies, and Computer and Information Science into an interdisciplinary field of its own. The literature review will discuss in length the analyses, the meta-theoretical, and problems for the field other authors and researchers have identified within the literature. Finally, in the summer of 2011, I am working with Dr. Paul Marty in a research collaboration at the Tallahassee Museum, investigating the use of digital journaling in learning about scientific inquiry.

REFERENCES

Bell, L.A. (1997). Theoretical foundations for social justice education. In M. Adams, L.A. Bell, & P. Griffin (Eds.), Teaching For Diversity and Social Justice (pp. 3-15). New York: Routledge.

Chatman, E. (1994). The impoverished life-world of outsiders. Journal of the American Society for Information Science 47(3), pp. 193-206.

Hardiman, R., & Jackson, B.W. (1997). Conceptual foundations for social justice courses. In M. Adams, L.A. Bell, & P. Griffin (Eds.), Teaching For Diversity and Social Justice (pp. 16-29). New York: Routledge.

Wang, C. C., Burris, M. A., & Ping, X. Y. (1996). Chinese village women as visual anthropologists: a participatory approach to researching policymakers. Social Science Medicine, 42(10), pp. 1391-1400.

Wang, C.C., & Burris, M.A. (1997). Photovoice: Concept, methodology and use for participatory needs assessment. Health Education and Behavior, 24(3), pp. 369-387.