Digital ethnography? Our experiences in the use of SenseMaker for understanding gendered climate vulnerabilities amongst marginalized agrarian communities

Digital innovations and interventions can potentially revolutionize agri-food systems, especially in coping with climate challenges. On a similar note, digital research tools and methods are increasingly popular for the efficient collection and analysis of real-time, large-scale data. It is claimed...

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Main Authors: Joshi, Deepa, Panagiotou, A., Bisht, Meera, Udalagama, Upandha, Schindler, Alexandra
Format: Journal Article
Language:Inglés
Published: MDPI 2023
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/130189
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author Joshi, Deepa
Panagiotou, A.
Bisht, Meera
Udalagama, Upandha
Schindler, Alexandra
author_browse Bisht, Meera
Joshi, Deepa
Panagiotou, A.
Schindler, Alexandra
Udalagama, Upandha
author_facet Joshi, Deepa
Panagiotou, A.
Bisht, Meera
Udalagama, Upandha
Schindler, Alexandra
author_sort Joshi, Deepa
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Digital innovations and interventions can potentially revolutionize agri-food systems, especially in coping with climate challenges. On a similar note, digital research tools and methods are increasingly popular for the efficient collection and analysis of real-time, large-scale data. It is claimed that these methods can also minimize subjective biases that are prevalent in traditional qualitative research. However, given the digital divide, especially affecting women and marginalized communities, these innovations could potentially introduce further disparities. To assess these contradictions, we piloted SenseMaker, a digital ethnography tool designed to capture individual, embodied experiences, biases, and perceptions to map vulnerabilities and resilience to climate impacts in the Gaya District in Bihar. Our research shows that this digital tool allows for a systematic co-design of the research framework, allows for the collection of large volumes of data in a relatively short time, and a co-analysis of the research data by the researchers and the researched. This process allowed us to map and capture the complexities of intersectional inequalities in relation to climate change vulnerability. However, we also noted that the application of the tool is influenced by the prior exposure to technology (digital devices) of both the enumerators and researched groups and requires significant resources when implemented in contexts where there is a need to translate the data from local dialects and languages to more dominant languages (English). Most importantly, perceptions, positionalities, and biases of researchers can significantly impact the design of the tool’s signification framework, reiterating the fact that researcher bias persists regardless of technological innovations in research methodology.
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spelling CGSpace1301892025-12-08T10:29:22Z Digital ethnography? Our experiences in the use of SenseMaker for understanding gendered climate vulnerabilities amongst marginalized agrarian communities Joshi, Deepa Panagiotou, A. Bisht, Meera Udalagama, Upandha Schindler, Alexandra ethnography climate change vulnerability communities marginalization gender women agriculture transdisciplinary research technology social aspects Digital innovations and interventions can potentially revolutionize agri-food systems, especially in coping with climate challenges. On a similar note, digital research tools and methods are increasingly popular for the efficient collection and analysis of real-time, large-scale data. It is claimed that these methods can also minimize subjective biases that are prevalent in traditional qualitative research. However, given the digital divide, especially affecting women and marginalized communities, these innovations could potentially introduce further disparities. To assess these contradictions, we piloted SenseMaker, a digital ethnography tool designed to capture individual, embodied experiences, biases, and perceptions to map vulnerabilities and resilience to climate impacts in the Gaya District in Bihar. Our research shows that this digital tool allows for a systematic co-design of the research framework, allows for the collection of large volumes of data in a relatively short time, and a co-analysis of the research data by the researchers and the researched. This process allowed us to map and capture the complexities of intersectional inequalities in relation to climate change vulnerability. However, we also noted that the application of the tool is influenced by the prior exposure to technology (digital devices) of both the enumerators and researched groups and requires significant resources when implemented in contexts where there is a need to translate the data from local dialects and languages to more dominant languages (English). Most importantly, perceptions, positionalities, and biases of researchers can significantly impact the design of the tool’s signification framework, reiterating the fact that researcher bias persists regardless of technological innovations in research methodology. 2023-04-26 2023-04-30T23:07:12Z 2023-04-30T23:07:12Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/130189 en Open Access MDPI Joshi, Deepa; Panagiotou, A.; Bisht, Meera; Udalagama, Upandha; Schindler, Alexandra. 2023. Digital ethnography? Our experiences in the use of SenseMaker for understanding gendered climate vulnerabilities amongst marginalized agrarian communities. Sustainability, 15(9):7196. (Special issue: Gender and Socially-Inclusive Approaches to Technology for Climate Action) [doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/su15097196]
spellingShingle ethnography
climate change
vulnerability
communities
marginalization
gender
women
agriculture
transdisciplinary research
technology
social aspects
Joshi, Deepa
Panagiotou, A.
Bisht, Meera
Udalagama, Upandha
Schindler, Alexandra
Digital ethnography? Our experiences in the use of SenseMaker for understanding gendered climate vulnerabilities amongst marginalized agrarian communities
title Digital ethnography? Our experiences in the use of SenseMaker for understanding gendered climate vulnerabilities amongst marginalized agrarian communities
title_full Digital ethnography? Our experiences in the use of SenseMaker for understanding gendered climate vulnerabilities amongst marginalized agrarian communities
title_fullStr Digital ethnography? Our experiences in the use of SenseMaker for understanding gendered climate vulnerabilities amongst marginalized agrarian communities
title_full_unstemmed Digital ethnography? Our experiences in the use of SenseMaker for understanding gendered climate vulnerabilities amongst marginalized agrarian communities
title_short Digital ethnography? Our experiences in the use of SenseMaker for understanding gendered climate vulnerabilities amongst marginalized agrarian communities
title_sort digital ethnography our experiences in the use of sensemaker for understanding gendered climate vulnerabilities amongst marginalized agrarian communities
topic ethnography
climate change
vulnerability
communities
marginalization
gender
women
agriculture
transdisciplinary research
technology
social aspects
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/130189
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