A little antagonism might be nice: Investigation in information science

Carter, Daniel; Sholler, Dan; Acker, Amelia

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/103135 Copy

Description

Title

A little antagonism might be nice: Investigation in information science

Author(s)

• Carter, Daniel
• Sholler, Dan
• Acker, Amelia

Issue Date

2019-03-15

Keyword(s)

• Investigation
• Methods
• Illegal activities

Abstract

Academic research often claims to investigate phenomena, but we conventionally insist that such investigations take place with the consent of those being studied. In this blue sky paper, we suggest that information science researchers should consider the contexts in which it might be beneficial to violate this norm and pursue what we describe as antago-nistic investigation. In relation to illegal and socially harmful activities such as platform manipulation, fraud and the spread of propaganda, we argue that researchers should go against the wishes of those they're studying and possibly, in the process, violate privacy norms, challenge illegal activities and call for accountability as a result of research. While these investigative activities are not conventional in information science research, they draw on core strengths of the field and position researchers to produce impactful work on relevant and pressing topics.

Publisher

iSchools

Series/Report Name or Number

iConference 2019 Proceedings

Type of Resource

text

Language

en

Permalink

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/103135

DOI

https://doi.org/10.21900/iconf.2019.103135

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2019 Daniel Carter, Dan Sholler, and Amelia Acker

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