Letter+of+Introduction+to+Interviewees

I would like to invite you to participate in an interview for a research project being conducted by myself, Erik Bigras, towards the completion of my degree of Doctor of Philosophy, under the supervision of Dr. Kim Fortun, of the Department of Science and Technology Studies at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. My research project aims to examine the ways in which data modeling and visualization technologies impact scientific practices and subjects. Should you decide to participate in this experiment, you will be asked to take part in an interview that will take between 90 and 120 minutes to complete. The interview will focus primarily on issues of scientific practices an subjects as they relate to data modeling and visualization technologies. Your participation in this research is completely voluntary and poses minimal risk to you. You do not have to answer any question you do not wish to answer, you are free to discontinue the experiment at any time without penalty, and your confidentiality will be guarded. Only I will have access to the interview transcripts, which will be kept on a secure computer. In order to preserve your anonymity, I will only quote you in my final thesis by using a pseudonym or by constructing a composite image using multiple responses. This study will contain three main goals. The first goal is to understand why scientific and technological practices enable modeled and visualized data to be constructed as credible versions of reality. The second goal is to understand why models become more desirable than locally collected data. The third goal is to understand what kinds of practices and knowledges are created through the use of data modeling and visualization programs. Overall, my aim is to better understand how data models and visualization technologies transform the practices of science and those who utilize such technologies.

If you would like to know the results of this study, please contact my supervisor, Dr. Kim Fortun, or myself, Erik Bigras, after August, 2015. Either one of these researchers will be happy to provide you with information about the findings of this study.

If you have any questions or concerns about the research project, please do not hesitate to contact me at any time at the following contact information:

Erik Bigras Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Sage 5508, STS Department 110 8th Street Troy, NY 12180 Tel: 518-272-0959 E-mail: bigrae@rpi.edu

I thank you for your time and consideration, Erik Bigras