Memo25+--+Core+Categories

Thomas Solley STSH 4980-01 Senior Thesis Costelloe-Kuehn 10/5/2014 10/8/2014

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__ Memo 25 -- Core Categories __ " This memo should identify at least two “core categories” that your research will flesh out, describing the material you can use to make them “dense.” The concept of a “core category” comes from the grounded theory tradition of sociology. See Strauss & Corbin (1990) Basics of Qualitative Research. Newbury Park: Sage. See Ellen Foster's core categories  for a project on "hacker/maker spaces/cultures." “Advocacy” is a core category in Advocacy After Bhopal, for example. A core category
 * 1) accounts for a phenomena or pattern of action/language that is relevant and problematic to people in the study
 * 2) recurs frequently in the data itself -- such that the intellectual project is a matter of taking up theorizations already initiated by our informants; then we return them, a little more robust, a little more broad in their explanatory power, infused with theories we bring from different scholarly traditions
 * 3) is integrative, providing a theoretical concept densely saturated by empirical detail
 * 4) yet privileges scope -- accounting for as much variation as possible, compelling a researcher to "code" for its many dimensions, properties, conditions, consequences, and connections to other things
 * 5) can be related to many other key categories in the research
 * 6) overall: is intended to draw different things together, while privileging variation -- creating, in process, new idioms with which we can engage the world."

... My assumed "core categories" thus far have been;
 * 1) faster communication and access to information are tied to stereotypes of the "information generation," among those being; [information density has had an impact on cultural norms and values]
 * 2) Voter / generation apathy
 * 3) Home-schooling and self-learning
 * 4) Worldwide communication on current political and environmental issues
 * 5) Scientific and engineering pursuit
 * 6) A higher presence in governmental politics at the local and regional levels
 * 7) "Information density and speed" [inter-personal communications] have improved measurably in the last seven years, starting-with and pioneered by the release of the Apple iPhone Smartphone.
 * 8) The smartphone -- reliant upon the Internet -- has been the cause (if not a major contributor-to) [of] the ___. [REDACTED, SEE BELOW]__

...... I think I may be needing/approaching another re-direct for my Thesis topic... Which I don't know if I can afford.... I feel like I've become lost, again, in premises. Assumptions of my own making.

REVISED 1- technological impact 2- "how we as a people look at the future" ---> "future" 3- question assumptions of "humanity" 4- swarm interactions 5- social behavior

.... In desired order of importance (descending value); 1- question assumptions of "humanity" 2- future 3- technological impact on society, 4- social analysis 5- swarm behavior

Which can be re-worded as; 1- "humanity" 2- future 3- impact 4- society 5- swarm

Concerns __ So, this is still fleshing-out information on our subjects? Good I guess, but I would think this onfo would have already been included by now....

... I did rush this one. I would have liked to have actual evidence and studies to back it up.

UPDATE .... This has gotten me thinking, yet again, of WHAT I am trying to find -- WHAT is my social-theoretical question, what are the RESEARCH questions I aim to use to find that... And what "trends" have I already seen that support this. I had been thinking (after class last week) that I could just start pursuing information relevant ot my "research question" from the end of my "brainstorm"... But as we found last night during the Thoughtstream, there are still more questions I have not yet begun to consider.

In reviewing the trends I had been relying upon for my Query... It isn't enough. Not in the right direction either. I feel that the above "categories" are somehow distinct-from the Query I had-had in mind.... And thus, wrong?

What accounts for the phenomena I have been seeing? Well, what have I been "seeing," or what do I claim has been done? Does a perceived "dependence" on networking technology imply social and sensory information? I do not know if my Query was valid in its premise -- that, smartphones have been the avenue for "social networking," which has been the avenue for a greater global "online presence" -- which can be approximated to be a manifestation of an "online culture," which can be called a "hive mind."
 * In the past seven years, the snartphone revolution has been occurring -- relying on distribution technologies such as the Internet.
 * This revolution has led to negative social outcomes which have been associated-with the technology of smartphones, or with smartphone capability.
 * In the extreme end, we see cases of buyers who have become "technologically depenedant" on the services that smartphones provide
 * Yet, these services may be distinct from those "intrinsic" to the technology. For example, Snapchat has been heralded with greater apathy, more of a "throwaway" / "party" culture. However, Snapchat is an application -- a software -- than runs independent of platform.
 * In this circumstance, the Smartphone is the "major distributor" and "enabler" of the Technology -- however, Snapchat users do not rely on the "internet-ability" of the Smartphone to accomplish this task; they rely on the Internet. The phone is just the tool.
 * Yet there ARE cases of persons who "rely" on the "platform" for the new "communication method" provided by the software. And without it, we see deficits.
 * The Softwares used on smartphones have created a dependence -- which is commonly attributed-to "networking" services such as Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, LinkedIn, Skype, and Google+. However, most of these services existed BEFORE the Smartphone platform enabled their dispersion.
 * What has made the Smartphone unique -- in terms of technology -- is how it has made communication PORTABLE and AFFORDABLE to a whole new generation.
 * From this, of course, has also come a new era of "personalization" and "personal expression," but that aspect of the "digital versus the physical self" is another topic.
 * The rise of the "throwaway" culture was not SPAWNED by smartphones -- rather, it has been enabled by this tehcnology. As per "The Great Gatsby," 'throwaway' and 'rush to nowhere' cultures have existed since social classes assumed roles of self-directed importance -- and associated with that, a sense of entitlement. "Parties" have been occurring for quite a while, however technology now has made it possible to "make it known" on a wider scale than before the Smartphone came about.
 * Specific trends -- Planking, Snapchat, Fashion, grinding, "selfies," "hookups" -- these arise from communication enabled by smartphones, but were not "started" by them?
 * ... difficult to say that one right? E.g. hookups and "nudes" existed before Tindr, but Tindr became associated-with that culture/idea...
 * Dating and matchmaking existed before e-Harmony, but that Website service spawned other similar Services, which became distributed thanks to the Internet...
 * However, "online cultures" have existed before Smartphones. Uncertain of the exact date, but I believe chat-rooms and forums (4chan?) existed before 2007 (release of the iPhone in america).

So is one of my premises... that smartphones have enabled a greater online presence, which has led to an explosion of "online cultures"? And that these "online cultures" can, indeed, be called a "hive mind," due to the "shared" nature of the Internet?
 * But, no... The Internet has become so vast and diverse that we cannot claim each part is connected-AND-aware of all other parts/domains...
 * In order to be a "hive mind," I would think it necessary for some "sensory" data and "global self-awareness" to be in existence....
 * Can we claim, though, that "society" has formed its own conscousness, manifested in the Internet?
 * No....
 * I feel that while "humanity" has become more self-aware in the last decade, this does not necessarily indicate a shared-consciousness.... Or does it?
 * True, technology (Internet, Smartphones) have enabled this growth of awareness in racism, politics, human rights, and environmental action... But I don't think the original link I saw is "there" anymore.