COMMENTS aka the final blog post

WEEK 1

1.
Katerina, it is a great thing that you've chosen this article, even if you do not use Twitter :)

Now, when you started, what do you thing the most complicated about Twitter?
Usually researchers talk about its shortness and the too intense usage of hyperlinks with no actual articulated information.
http://mediatechnologymethod.blogspot.se/2012/10/first-theme-research-journal-i-chose.html?showComment=1351696665482#c6360235832180433111

2.
Fernanda, I liked your article choice, but what the three most common emoticons are?
(According to this research).
Although there are really different cultures of using the emotional symbols, I assume that the most popular one is this :)
http://fcfkth.blogspot.se/2012/10/the-white-rabbit-theme-1-research.html?showComment=1351696041232#c5687970978689783634

3.
>I must confess that I tried for more than two hours to look for a research paper that would present the characteristics implied as an excellent theory.

Fernanda, I did the same!!! :)

This made me think, why it is so difficult to produce a new convincing theory nowadays - because human knowledge is so wide, or because we are fixed on the things we already know and do not want to accept something new. There should be another options, of course :) What is your opinion?
http://fcfkth.blogspot.se/2012/11/emc-theme-2-theory.html?showComment=1352330229310#c2918838325889941452

4.
Nicole, I would love to read the article of your choice!


I have seen a lot of tv-series promo actions on Twitter, starting from script-writers' twitters full of teasers to virtual twitters of TV heroes, but it seems there is no research on this subject at all. 
Does this research show how much profit this kind of promo activity gives?
http://dm25722012.blogspot.se/2012/10/theme-1-research-publicationstheory-of.html?showComment=1351697075818#c553665883685881207

5.
Marina, how do you think, is it possible for the media company nowadays to exist without any social network services? Personally, I think that this is the very important part of the image and can work positive for a company's status, but still some media prefer not to interact with their readers online.
http://mediatechnow.blogspot.se/2012/10/theme-1.html?showComment=1351695723141#c1944269165161873023

6.
Your choice of article is very interesting, since we talked about the idealized image of a person on Facebook, and discussed it a lot, basing on Sherry Turkle's book. She pointed out that Facebook made us lonelier, while this research shows something different completely!
http://johan-dm2572.blogspot.se/2012/10/theme-1.html?showComment=1351696346399#c3197181538015510868


WEEK 2

1.
Katerina, we've discussed your chosen article and its theory during today's seminar, and I found it very interesting. I have experienced this effect myself, working with advertising, and this is just another type, or side, of media Convergence, I believe.

Also this separation between Central Processing = multi source condition and Peripheral Processing = repetition condition makes it quite easy to talk about how we receive the advert, and feel about it - IMHO, Peripheral Processing is much more annoying, heretofore less effective.
http://mediatechnologymethod.blogspot.se/2012/11/second-theme-question-1-what-theory-is.html?showComment=1352327292748#c2214580017871381312

2.
This is an interesting article, Nicole, thank you! =)

Taking the "Global village effect" in this context, it should be obvious that media interactivity makes audience participation level higher, not lower. Now I am trying to think of any web activity created by media that can be not appreciated by audience!
http://dm25722012.blogspot.se/2012/11/theme-2-theoryor-what-is-it-not.html?showComment=1352320866939#c3034353009380245288

3.
Marina, I have googled and enjoyed your article very much!

This topic is very important, I believe, for our countries. The aspect of youth participation in political activities is currently almost vital, as we can see from various social media resources.
We had our small "Facebook Revolution" last winter in Russia, political activities in your country are also visible online. Personally, I think that Internet stimulates political awareness among youngsters. But Evgeny Morozov (http://muse.jhu.edu/login?auth=0&type=summary&url=/journals/dss/v056/56.4.morozov.html) pointed out that "Twitter Revolution" in Iran has nothing to do with Twitter. I think it is not true. What is your opinion?
http://mediatechnow.blogspot.se/2012/11/theme-2.html?showComment=1352325985833#c7768352781436217325

4.
I love this article! Its subject is very close to the theme of Day Gillmore's book “We the media – grassroots journalism by the people, for the people”, and shows that Citizen Journalism is about these "grassroots" who nowadays become proper news makers.

It is also interesting to read about social news, as we have much more of this sort of media information today, _exactly_ because of the citizen activity online!
http://tmm12.blogspot.se/2012/11/theme-2.html

5.
I liked reading this article a lot, thank you for the link!

I believe that CouchSurfing is not a typical online social network, and it was difficult to me to apply the abovementioned framework in this case.

Do you personally think that virtual communities can be defined by the geographical location (especially with CS example, it sounds like a joke to me :))? IMHO it is the last thing, but, of course, language plays the important role.
http://dm2572-jussis.blogspot.se/2012/11/theme-2.html

6.
Hej Mattias,

it was very interesting to discuss the article of your choice during the seminar, formulate the definition of Social cognitive theory, and read about all these theories! I am still not sure which type of theory we do see here - for me there are both design & action and also explanation & prediction as authors do explain what kind of result will be achieved after some particular actions...  Anyway, it is a great research with a variety of theories included, thank you for finding this paper!
http://dm2572-maoster.blogspot.se/2012/11/theme-2-teory.html?showComment=1352116982718#c466775766703651189

7.
No, it is Mary - http://mshelukho.blogspot.se/2012/10/reflections-aftertheme1.html

I am not that serious into philosophy, so I cannot possible agree/disagree with Russel :) I've never read Rawls, but now I see that he is definitely interesting! Kant's style of writing seems very clear to me, as I can understand his ideas, especially connections between happiness and moral. As a teen I thought that his book is a logical version of Bible :)

And I agree with you, sometimes Russels arguments are weak, and more like 'I don't like this idea', but, as we've been told on the seminar, 'Philosophy is a discipline of gentleman's, and if you are accusing someone, you do it gently'. :)
http://tdm2572.blogspot.se/2012/10/first-week-reflections.html?showComment=1351767082432#c2753429981647508133


WEEK 3

1.
Diana, I love the way you compare Excel and SPSS, as at first I decided that SPSS is actually an application for Excel :)

It looks for me like SPSS was created for journalists who struggle with mathematical style of Excel (that's me!), and it instantly turns figures into visual material.
Regarding the book, Nicholas Walliman. Sociological research methods, - it is great that you found it, thank you, it could be really helpful for my thesis paper - is it available online? Tack :)
http://mediameth.blogspot.se/2012/11/the-third-week-of-tmmt-studies.html?showComment=1352993718052#c439749865150061073

2.
Nicole, you made me think about online learning more, than Martha Cleveland-Innes!

I don't have much experience with e-learning, and personally I always thought that the only one advantage of it that one can do distance learning, no need to be in the right time/place, that's all.
But you cannot get a proper *Lecture* feeling if you are sitting next to the computer at home, do you? How does it work with the involvement, serious atmosphere, or the dialog with the teacher? In my opinion, it must be a bit less productive, ...or the lecturer must be a genius!
http://dm25722012.blogspot.se/2012/11/reflection-on-theme-3.html?showComment=1352984307391#c6331462520977759229

3.
Fernanda, I really like this video, and another one, with grown-ups in the same situation :)

Actually I looked into various types of Sampling Methods already, I think that this site has the best definitions of all the types, Random especially, and gives the chance to understand the differences -> http://www.statpac.com/surveys/sampling.htm

Wikipedia is also very good, but also confusing (e.g. "simple random sampling should not be confused with random sampling" -> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simple_random_sample). Probably we should edit it :)
http://fcfkth.blogspot.se/2012/11/the-marshmallow-experiment-reflections.html?showComment=1353006449547#c6337786132293127549

4.
>because a student can easily become a teacher while studying online.

Marina, I don't understand this bit, to say the truth :) On the contrary, I understand how a student can be a teacher during 'offline' learning - he/she can explain things to the students sitting nearby, but with online study it is always easier to google something you don't understand than ask other students... So I believe this statement means something else!
http://mediatechnow.blogspot.se/2012/11/theme-3-reflection.html?showComment=1352992764576#c8491993021154844676


5.
Hej Johan,

I found this article quite interesting and very illustrative. Moreover, I got curious and decided to read it, as it has been chosen by another student, Sanna, as you probably know :) http://sannadm2572.blogspot.se/ In the post Sanna also talks about the Grounded theory method as a part of qualitative research, which was also used here.

I absolutely agree with you on the point of the biased representation when dealing with archives, but it is the same with “purposefully” chosen websites and the detailed interviews as well. It is easy to make questionnaires objective, but proper interviews often lead to the personal perception.
So to me, as far, most of the qualitative research methods seem to be biased, if not made with proper 'randomness' and (preferably) analysed by different scientists, not only one.
http://jblomg.blogspot.se/2012/11/theme-4.html

6.
Hej Sanna,

Thank you for your choice of the article, I've read it and found the subject quite interesting: the text itself is very illustrative, but, to my mind, not very scientific. As you probably have seen already, this article has been chosen by another student, Johan :) http://jblomg.blogspot.se/ - so reading two posts and the text itself made me feel like we had a collective discussion.

You've introduced me to a term 'Grounded theory' and I googled it a bit; it is great to finally have an example of work that is not based on a theoretical framework.
You use a world 'unreliable' when talking about the data that can be incorrect or subjective - I totally agree here, and actually I feel that all the methods used in this research could be considered as biased, as everything here is based on personal perception. But probably this is the way how the qualitative research works!
http://sannadm2572.blogspot.se/2012/11/theme-4.html

7.
Thank you for the comment, Stefan!

Indeed, hypotheses should be based on observations and, as stupid as it could sound, on initial intuition - I think this is the basis of scientific endeavour.

The Wiki editing exercise was especially useful for this reason: some of us got the editors job, and some were writing the definition from the beginning. As a journalist I know that both tasks are really important: sometimes it is more difficult to improve somebody's text than to write your own.

As to the Wiki content for the next year - IMHO students must work on their definitions. As far we had only "Theory" - this one should be done again, but the additional information (examples of theories, papers) is very useful and it would be a pity to lose these findings!
http://tdm2572.blogspot.se/2012/11/second-week-reflections.html?showComment=1353005617198#c6745352030129331255


WEEK 4

1. 
Sebastian,

Thank you very much for creating the graph, it is very illustrative. I would also like to add (and you are more than welcome to correct me) that you cannot call the discussing/philosophizing 'non-structured': these forms of analysing have some very strict rules, such as hypothesis = thesis - antithesis - synthesis, which is embodied in modern philosophy of science.
http://tamfmtsebastian.blogspot.se/2012/11/0-0-1-388-2212-kth-18-5-2595-14.html

2. 
Hej Bart, and thank you for the links!

I also found the part about triangulation in qualitative research very interesting, as actually now I feel that triangulation is a necessity in the qualitative research, even if it can make the process much more complicated and even misleading. I also found an article called 'The use of Triangulation in Social Sciences Research' (http://jcsw.no/local/media/jcsw/docs/jcsw_issue_2009_1_8_article.pdf) and strongly advice it to everyone: it helps to understand how can qualitative and quantitative methods be combined.
http://tmm12.blogspot.se/2012/11/theme-4-reflections-upon-completion.html

3. 
Hej Markus!

The topic of your chosen article is very interesting. I wonder if it is clear from the research what type of sampling has been used?
Also, if to 'dig deeper into the reasons of the choice of when and to whom they share this information' it would be interesting to connect this research with a book “Privacy in a noisy society” by Niklas Lundblad (www.sics.se/privacy/wholes2004/papers/lundblad.pdf), which I strongly recommend! :)
http://dm2572warne.blogspot.se/2012/11/theme-4.html?showComment=1353599014517#c8214426146104242357

4.
I like the way how they did the sampling and double interviews. It is, indeed, an example of a good research, even if the data and the researcher's conclusions are subjective, there are no ways to avoid this, as the study is about the self-expression.

Also, the method this research uses, with presenting hypothetical scenarios to the interviewee, is taken from psychological practices and it is nice to know that we are free to use it while dealing with new media issues.
Thank you for the article you found!
http://dm2572-jussis.blogspot.se/2012/11/theme-4.html

5.
Thank you for this article!

It was extremely interesting to listen to your findings during the seminar, so I found this paper and read it. I agree that the methods used here are close to the ethnographic research, and also media studies, as author describes some broadcasting technics.
Actually, this reminded me of the Crowd psychology theory (www.wisegeek.com/what-is-crowd-psychology.htm) and Theodor Adorno's views on propaganda, and I really hope it is my personal opinion or the dark impression after reading this paper, but not the reality!
http://sepehramoorpour.blogspot.se/2012/11/theme-4.html

6.
Hej Nicklas,

I like your choice of the article, as this subject is not well-covered yet. Still, the podcasts producing is growing worldwide and it is good to see such research.

I totally agree that it is definitely not a right way to deal with questionnaires in such an open fashion: submissions must be anonymous and must be created through private channels, as it is almost a first rule for a researcher: not to let interviewees to see the answers of each other, as it can demotivate (*one has written it already, so I should write something new, or nothing at all, or just agree with them*). Also this study needs some quantitative data, for sure, as this field currently lacks of the accurate, relevant and up-to-date statistics.
http://dm2572nicklas.blogspot.se/2012/11/theme-4-before.html?showComment=1353601843112#c466921769250821279


WEEK 5

1. 
Hej Miriam,

I also find this topic quite interesting :) Today I've read a good paper on this subject "What Do Prototypes Prototype?". In Helander, M; Landauer, T; Prabhu, P. Handbook of Human–Computer Interaction. (http://blogs.ischool.berkeley.edu/ict4se/files/2010/09/Prototypes_prototype.pdf)

Actually, as we can see from the practice, usually prototypes are much more expensive than the product that developers get in the end. It is a usual way of work: firstly they try to create a "perfect" product with immaculate capacities/parameters, to prove that the concept works. After that they have the task to reduce the production expenditures. The best example are cosmetics: the first series of products are usually much better as they are released altogether with promo campaigns, but later product's quality usually becomes lower.
http://tdm2572.blogspot.se/2012/11/theme-5.html?showComment=1354145614830#c8503372371510035736

2.
Hey Florian,

In my opinion, this research is not complete. If we go to the terms: the word 'empirical' means something derived from actual experience, and 'theoretical' means something is that derived from thinking. (http://www.accessscience.com)
So yes, we can say that this actDresses survey is empirical as authors got some actual experience while working with robots, but this is *their* experience during the experiment, and no evaluation can be made.
Still, they got this empirical evidence which is synonymous with the outcome of an experiment, and can discuss it as a result. But personally, I believe that this empirical result should have more confirmation from the user study.
http://tdm2572.blogspot.se/2012/11/fourth-week-reflections.html?showComment=1354144752215#c6348478020096121317

3.
Hej Jacob,

I love the discussion on the media technologies evaluation that is going here, and want to add one thought.
Of course, personal experience is a vital factor, as well as cultural differences and even individual preferences. Still, it is possible to discuss and even evaluate these things. The subject of your paper is close to Dr. Martha Cleveland-Innes analysis of emotions and their impact on the learning process, and should be done in a similar way at least in one part: a serious random sampling and mixed method of research are needed, and three students are obviously not representative. The number of 300, or 3000 would work better :)
http://jacobkth.blogspot.se/2012/11/assignment-5.html

4.
Hej Daniel,

Thank you for introducing me to the idea of Mockups! :) I used it in web design all the time without knowing the right term for it. But the things they provide for the example in your link are quite obvious: these are paper prototypes, very useful for the manual design. I went to Wikipedia to see more examples (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mockup) and was surprised. If "a mockup is a prototype that provides at least part of the functionality of a system and enables testing of a design," how can it be possible to do mockups for automobiles and space shuttles? I am still sure that it is a good way to see how the object would look, and nothing more, so it is useful for designers mostly.
http://daneri4.blogspot.se/2012/11/reflections-theme-5.html

5.
Hey Mattias,

I find your question about the repetitive cycle of testing in design research very important. Personally, I think that iterative user testing is a vital part of any design work, and it is a pity that it is not used most of the times, according to the various papers we read during last weeks.

I also found a good article on this subject, http://www.ericzimmerman.com/texts/Iterative_Design.html - "Play as Research: The Iterative Design Process" by Eric Zimmerman, CEO of Gamelab, and loved the idea (which is quite obvious if you think of it, but it was not presented during our studies as far) that the prototype should be evaluated by 2 groups during the iterations: 1) a focus group, 2) a group not associated with the previous product work - in order to get non-biased opinions.
http://dm2572-maoster.blogspot.se/2012/11/theme-5-reflections.html?showComment=1354189144965#c1012651922859894522

6.

Hej Emma,

I like your approach to the subject, I also went to the books you've read and can say that I find them more useful than the lecture, so you've done a good work :)
You are absolutely right talking about the understanding-explaining-improving scheme, based on the grounded theory, but actually another the most important part of the process is the prototype (artifact) development, its testing and evaluation. That's why this kind of research is very practical! Imagination is very important, as a key to the creativity.

I would like to add one thing, a link: A Case Study of Iterative Prototyping - it is a very entertaining case study in Design research made by British scientists, with pictures and great examples of how the prototyping works, with a great deal of imagination! :)
http://vislab.cs.vt.edu/~quek/Classes/Aware%2BEmbodiedInteraction/PAPERS/Stretal05.pdf

http://dm2572emmafrid.blogspot.se/2012/11/reflections-on-theme-5-design-reserach.html?showComment=1354194123079#c1750673914775045198