Method,+Theory,+Practical,+Empirical+EF

__MEMO 16 __

__Methodological - How do you contribute to new methodologies? __

This study will be based on data collected through participant observation, ethnographic interviews, as well as online material gathered from such sites as publiclaboratories.org and instructables.org. I will focus not only on interview and observational notes, but on a decent amount of articles and “gray” material to populate the data of my project. I am still not certain how I will do specific data analysis. I may also visit a variety of sites in Boston, NYC, Philadelphia, Providence and beyond before settling on specific sites. I am currently exploring the makerspace in downtown Troy as a possible site for investigation as well.

 __Empirical - What can we put in an archive? Artifacts?__

Different ways that the science and the people encounter one another--which encounters do i choose to focus on and why

Focusing on public engagement within the sciences in the United States, this study will contribute to the empirical record of ways in which makerspaces, DIY websites, museums, and citizen science groups affect public engagement within the sciences and the ways that scientific pursuits intervene in everyday life of the citizenry. While examining the affectability of empowerment through making, it will question current “Maker” and “DIY” cultures and the tendencies toward making material objects that do not have critical merit behind them. It will look at the trend of spaces and online communities, examining where these gaps in critical thinking lie and the possibilities for moving beyond them.

 __Conceptual/Theoretical__

This study will advance the conceptualization of knowledge creation and knowledge transfer within STS theory. It will also consider what Freire calls “critical-consciousness,” its possible place within the making culture, and how this might expand what “making” can entail as a political act. Science engagement is also examined within this study, so there is room to theorize about citizen science and the different venues through which science engages various communities within the public. The study will draw on and contribute to scholarly literatures that examine public participation in the sciences, issues with the transference of tacit knowledge, situated knowledges, critical-making, critical technical practices, and participatory design.

Ensuring that I do not villainize these working, makerspace groups Refreshing on DIY spaces for refreshing "critical-consciousness", historicizing what is going on with these spaces Being the "Critical-consciousness" girl What kind of critical impulse is created by what communities

 __Practical__

Results of this study can help highlight issues of how scientific communities interface with the public and how these interactions might be directed for a more positive and productive agenda. It also looks at what maker and hacker spaces are currently doing, and how they might be utilized or transformed to incorporate more critical-thinking within design that can help the immediate, local communities in which they are situated.