A workshop I ran on the idea of Guerrilla research - that is no (low) cost research that relies on free tools, open data, etc and doesn't require permission
1. The art of guerrilla research
Martin Weller
http://www.flickr.com/photos/idfonline/
5981013497/
2. Overview
• What is guerrilla research
• Relationship with traditional research
• Inefficiency in current practice
• Four examples
• Issues
3. What is guerrilla research?
Guerrilla research methods are faster, lower-
cost methods that provide sufficient enough
insights to make informed strategic
decisions
(Ross Unger and Todd Warfel)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/essgee/3411795985/
5. The research process
• Have an idea
• Write a proposal
• Submit proposal
• {wait}
• Get funding
• Do research
• Write paper
• {wait}
• Publish
• Have an idea
• Do research
• Blog it
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mg7een/4550426/
6. DIY
• Create a journal
• Interrogate data
• Disseminate findings
• Create a community
• Collaborate
7. “what’s important here is that Zuckerberg’s
genius could be embraced by half-a-billion
people within six years of its first being
launched, without (and here is the critical
bit) asking permission of anyone. The real
story is not the invention. It is the platform
that makes the invention sing.”
(Larry Lessig)
8. The manifesto
1. It can be done by one or two researchers and
does not require a team
2. It relies on existing open data, information
and tools
3. It is fairly quick to realise
4. It is disseminated via blogs and social media
5. It doesn’t require permission
10. Complementary
• Demonstrate potential of further work
• Altmetrics as indicator of interest
• Get ideas/collaborators for bigger project
• Increase personal profile
11. More efficient?
12 days for a
conventional
proposal was the
average (RCUK 2006)
ESRC - only 17% of
bids were successful in
2009-10
RCUK = 2006 £196
million on
applications to the
8 UK research
councils
2800 bids submitted to
ESRC in 2009-10, an
increase in 33% from
2005-6
ESRC - 2000 failed
bids x 12 days per
bid = 65 years of
effort
12. Example1: The rich world of travel
blogsGuided by a Bourdieusian
lens, this article examines
the negotiation of
authenticity, distinction and
identity in the websites and
blogs of companies and
tourists during the 2010
spring Mt Everest climbing
season.
(Kane 2012)
This paper provides a
discussion of the
strengths,
weaknesses and
implications of using
content analysis and
narrative analysis on
travel blogs
The research reviewed the
published literature and
real-life examples of
destination marketing
organizations and tourism
enterprises using blogs as
part of their business
strategy
One important form is traveling, in which self-
described “travelers” aim to dissociate
themselves from tourism altogether. As travelers,
rather than tourists, these people present
themselves as engaged in a morally superior
alternative that does not create the same
problems as tourism.
13. • No permission
• Rich source of data
• Would have required interviews, recruitment,
budget
• Different methodology
15. • No permission (OA licensed articles)
• Quick set up
• No business case required
• Allows for interdisciplinarity
16. Example 3: MOOC research
Katy Jordan doing
MOOC, blogs
final assignment
Picked up by Phil
Hill at eliterate
Becomes defacto
piece on
completion rates
Invited to submit
proposal for
funding
Conference &
journal articles
follow
17. • Used free tools
• Openly available data (reports, papers, data)
• Relies on open scholarship identity
• Led to proper funding and publication
• Being used for further bids
19. • No special access to data
• No permission required
• Spare time
• Adopted by OU as official app
20. Issues
• Will someone steal my idea?
• Can I account for it in my workplan?
• Will it get me promoted?
• Do I need technical skills?
Hinweis der Redaktion
I did a blog post on a half-thought through idea and then got asked to run a workshop on it. So let this stand as a warning to the perils of blogging
The term has been used in interface design to refer to a quick, good enough way of getting feedback
It is one of those areas that is made possible by the intersection of digital, networked and open, so falls under my digital scholarship interest
We are accustomed to thinking about research as it is on the left, but the digital, networked open approach also offers the possibility of theprocess on the right
Key to this is a DIY kind of mentality – you can do all these things yourself now, from your own bedroom/study/office
That’s quite a fundamental shift and I’m not sure we’ve really taken it on board as researchers yet
The key element is permission I think, and this goes back to the architecture of the internet. This is Lessig’s review of the film The Social Network, and the point he stresses is that it was the removal of the barrier of permission that allowed facebook (and all those other start-ups) to flourish
It’s not really a manifesto, but let’s pretend
Some principles that characterise guerrilla research
As academic researchers we’ve been enculturated into a particular mindset as to what constitutes research. We think of it as being a certain size r shape. Often those were the results of logistical constraints eg the journal article is determined largely by the economics of print
We can now rethink the size and shape of research
Not in competition with trad research, bigger toolkit
We don’t see the waste in the current system because it’s accepted
But a guerrilla approach may be more efficient, produce more shareable stuff
Most of these rejected bids are lost
Going to look at examples now
Example around data – travel blogs have generated a lot of research, here identity, marketing, methodology all covered