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Article published In: Methodology in Linguistic Landscape Research
Edited by Robert Blackwood
[Linguistic Landscape 3:3] 2017
► pp. 246–266

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(T)Apping the linguistic landscape

Methodological challenges and the scientific potential of a citizen-science approach to the study of social semiotics

 | University of Luxembourg
Published online: 19 January 2018
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/ll.17023.pur
Abstract
This article explores methodological challenges and scientific perspectives of a citizen science approach to linguistic landscapes research. Starting from the outline of a disciplinary landscape, the text first discusses development strategies and practical implementation of crowdsourcing via mobile applications as means to data collection in two participatory research projects. The comparison highlights the complex trade-off between empirical benefits and methodological drawbacks in relation to mobile app setups for crowdsourcing. In a second step, the use of crowdsourcing technology is embedded in a methodological framework for a citizen science approach to the study of social semiotics and discussed against the background of five guiding principles: participatory research, lifeworld orientation, societal engagement, computational analysis, and open research practice. The discussion points out that a citizen science approach brings about numerous opportunities as well as substantial challenges for academic practice in terms of a democratization, social embedding, and opening of research activities.
Deutsch
Der Artikel untersucht methodische Herausforderungen und wissenschaftliches Potential eines Citizen Science-Ansatzes für die Erforschung visueller Mehrsprachigkeit. Vor dem Hintergrund der aktuellen disziplinären Forschungslandschaft werden am Beispiel zweier partizipativer Linguistic Landscapes-Projekte zunächst Entwicklungsstrategien und praktische Implementierung von Crowdsourcing mit Hilfe von Smartphone-Apps als Mittel zur Datenerhebung diskutiert. Der Vergleich offenbart die schwierige Abwägung zwischen empirischen Vorteilen und methodischen Konsequenzen von Crowdsourcing für mobile Forschungs-Apps. In einem zweiten Schritt wird die Verwendung von Crowdsourcing-Technik in einen methodologischen Rahmen eingepasst, der einen Citizen Science-Ansatz für die Erforschung sozialer Semiotik vorschlägt und dabei von fünf Leitprinzipien ausgeht: partizipative Forschung, lebensweltliche Orientierung, gesellschaftliches Engagement, computationelle Analyse und offene Forschungspraxis. Die Diskussion zeigt auf, dass ein Citizen Science-Ansatz vielfältige Chancen ebenso wie grundlegende Herausforderungen für die akademische Praxis mit sich bringt, besonders hinsichtlich einer Demokratisierung, sozialen Einbettung und Öffnung von Forschungsaktivitäten.
Article outline
  • 1.Background: A disciplinary landscape
  • 2.Data collection with mobile applications: a comparative account
  • 3.Methodological groundings of a community-based participatory research framework
    • 3.1Participatory research
    • 3.2Lifeworld orientation
    • 3.3Societal engagement
    • 3.4Computational analysis
    • 3.5Open research practice
  • 4.Outlook: Potential and shortcomings for LL research
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
References (45)
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