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Coded spatialities of fieldwork
Author(s) -
Fraser Alistair
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
area
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.958
H-Index - 82
eISSN - 1475-4762
pISSN - 0004-0894
DOI - 10.1111/j.1475-4762.2007.00734.x
Subject(s) - code (set theory) , field (mathematics) , sociology , computer science , set (abstract data type) , programming language , mathematics , pure mathematics
Area has a long-standing tradition of publishing observations and articles on the dynamics of doing fieldwork (e.g. Cupples 2002; Bennett 2004; Bracken and Mawdsley 2004; Desmond 2004; Watson 2004). This Observation discusses some dynamics of using technologies in the field.i I draw on recent theorizations of ‘code’ (Dodge and Kitchin 2004, 2005) to call attention to the ‘coded spatialities’ of fieldwork. I discuss some implications of code for the researcher’s positionality and how coded spatialities can affect research outcomes. I mostly draw upon my ten-month fieldwork experience in rural South Africa; however, the issues I raise are less to do with doing fieldwork in South Africa as they are about doing fieldwork in the contemporary period