Topic Interests
After reviewing the readings for Chapter 1, I have three topics that interest me.
First, I am interested in online videos, oral history, and documentary videos. I would like to apply interpretivist, qualitative, and/or theoretical approaches to digital composition to explore the effects of using filters and editing in videos that claim to depict "everyday life." With so much content being recorded and shared, I want to investigate how the use of filters, editing, and curation impacts future generations' perception of history. Are we simply showcasing the highlights of our lives, or are we presenting an authentic account of history?
The videos from my childhood had no filtering or curation - you saw the raw footage and could interpret it for yourself. In today's world, where everything is curated to present the creator in the best possible light, are we imposing our interpretation of our lives on future generations who will view these videos?
I would like to find articles discussing this phenomenon and the "Instagram-perfect" effect. I'm also interested in possibly interviewing some history professors to get their perspective on this issue and to learn whether a similar concern arose when film cameras and movies were allowed into war zones, with footage then curated to reflect particular biases for audiences.
Second, I am also interested in the effect of having standard operating procedures (SOPs) on business productivity and efficiency. Specifically, I would like to apply both quantitative and qualitative methods (and possibly empirical) to assess whether having SOPs in place helps employees complete tasks more effectively, particularly when they are cross-trained to fill in for others in different roles. It would be best to employ a mixed method for this study.
I have created SOP manuals for a law firm and a middle school, although I did not formally evaluate their effectiveness. These manuals were primarily developed to train new employees or to be used as a personal reference guide for me to remember how to do my own responsibilities. The manual I created for the middle school has been used by other middle schools in the area, but no follow-up has been conducted to determine whether it has been beneficial.
I am interested in identifying efficiencies and helping organizations find better ways to accomplish their tasks. That is another area I would like to possibly explore.
Third, I am interested in the impact of translating legal documents from legalese to plain English. This exploratory research would examine whether plain English makes legal documents more accessible to the average person. I would also aim to explore whether using plain English fundamentally alters the meaning of legal documents, potentially requiring longer texts due to the extra explanations needed. Additionally, I want to investigate whether it's possible to use precise plain English that conveys the same meaning as legalese without increasing the document's length.
I could use a mixed-method approach, combining qualitative, quantitative, and usability tests. This would help me understand how the user interprets that document, how attorneys perceive the use of plain English, and the time required for attorneys to revise a simple document while ensuring the use of plain English is maintained.
Exercise 2.2
Michelle, I see potential is all three research directions. The first one seems like it would be the hardest to test. I really like your third idea testing plain language versions of legal documents against originals. This is interesting and potentially really valuable. Legalese is more than annoying. When people are not willing to work through the meaning of legalese (or are not able to) it definitely raises some social issues. That said, testing whether plain language is the answer is a good question.
ReplyDeleteI sure appreciate the new option in online terms of service (TOS) agreements that lets me quickly opt out of 3rd party cookies. I know this option could sometimes be found within the TOS documents, but I rarely took the time and effort to go find it.
I like your thinking to test for potential issues when switching to plain language in legal documents. I'm already curious how significant the difference in length will be between the two versions, if any. This subject is important and could result in some interesting results.
Nice work!
I think that you have a very contemporary topic. I believe that your findings will prove relevant years to come. People will reflect on this period and recognize that depictions of everyday life were drastically altered. You make some very intriguing points and I am curious to hear your interpretation. I think you will have some interesting content to present. Our authenticity as a race is compromised because of all the adjustments made to digital content. We, as a people, want to portray something other than the truth and that is worth exploring. I believe that your goal of the interpretivist approach is perfect. I believe that the qualitative method is appropriate. I cant wait for the presentation.
ReplyDeleteHi, Michelle — what a creative set of topics! Indeed, the culture of “artificially beautifying” content for the sake of making oneself look good online is increasingly normalized. As you point out, the long-accepted reliability of video and photographic evidence is now being tested, so that you can no longer be sure whether it’s raw and authentic (or not). Deepfakes and photorealistic AI-generated content are even more challenging to discern, and while I can appreciate your current focus on filtering and curation (which aren’t as “fresh on the scene”), their effects may soon be overshadowed. Of course, one possibility (though not a given) is future generations adapt and learn how to tell the real from the fake with more ease than people today, though that depends on people’s ability to adapt and evolve in the face of ongoing technological advancements.
ReplyDeleteContacting history professors is also a nice touch, by the way. In fact, on the topic of historical censorship of photos and footage: while I’m certainly not a historian myself (much less a professor), you might also be interested in how Joseph Stalin retouched photos to remove all traces of his victims and rewrite the history books in his favor. History.com gives a few examples (https://www.history.com/news/josef-stalin-great-purge-photo-retouching), my favorite being a side-by-side comparison of the photo on the left (where Stalin stands next to Nikolai Yezhov, the NKVD chief behind the Great Purge of the 1930s) and the edited photo on the right (where Yezhov is airbrushed out, after Stalin purged and replaced him).