The Sociality of Fieldwork: Designing for Social Science Research Practice and Collaboration

Abstract

Supporting scientific practice has been a longstanding goal of CSCW research. This paper explores how we might design for social science research practices and collaboration. Drawing on sixteen interviews with fieldwork-based social scientists we document the importance of small-scale long-term collaborative arrangements for research and intellectual work - pairs of researchers who work together in-depth over their careers, developing a common yet distinctive view of their research field. This contrasts with the large-scale short-lived collaborations that have classically been the target of cyber-infrastructure work. We describe technology practices among social scientists and how these can inform technology design for fieldwork practices.