What is in a Name - Defining Independent Research
The value of research is often signaled through familiar markers: academic publications, institutional affiliations, conference presentations, and advanced degrees. Outside those settings, it can be harder to know what to call the work you’re doing or how seriously to take it.
I’ve been thinking about what it means to call myself an independent researcher. I don’t have a university research position, and I don’t follow a formal research program. But I continue to pursue questions, read across disciplines, and look for connections between ideas and the work I’m involved in.
I’m not trying to argue that all independent exploration is equivalent to academic research. Formal research has important standards, practices, and forms of accountability. Rather, I’m interested in how I can carry some of that spirit of inquiry into my work outside a traditional academic setting.
What I am Interested In
I'm interested in how emerging technologies move from research into practice. I tend to explore this through two overlapping dimensions: the structural, focused on the infrastructure, security, and stability of emerging technologies, and the social, centered on how technology shapes our relationships, communities, and broader society. I believe that no topic exists in isolation, and that looking across disciplines can help us better understand the connections between them.
Structurally, I'm interested in the infrastructure and processes that underpin emerging technologies.
- What tools, approaches, and mindsets help technologies move from ideation to implementation and adaptation?
- How might emerging technologies affect automation, productivity, and human capabilities? How can we support innovation while considering governance, security, and resilience?
- How do emerging technologies support or challenge community formation and individual expression? What alternatives do they offer to mainstream platforms?
Socially, I'm interested in the relationships between technology, people, and the communities they form.
- What helps sustain online communities, particularly open-source communities and digital grassroots movements? How do platforms shape civic participation and conversations around free expression and digital rights?
- How do community communication platforms influence the spread of misinformation? What are the challenges of balancing moderation, free expression, and the safety of online communities?
How I Explore These Questions
My research is best described as ethnography with qualitative methods which I studied and practice in college. Depending on the topic, this might involve reading existing research, observing communities I’m part of, or exploring ideas through projects.
While ethnography is sometimes criticized for its subjectivity, this perspective allows for a deper understanding that purely quantitative approaches cannot capture. As researcher Rimjhim Surana highlights in her article:
In doing the act of ‘writing the self’ there is meaning to be found because the researcher can focus on looking at the subject through an ethnographic lens while simultaneously paying attention to the vulnerable self and everything that falls in between these two.
In my opinion, it adds a layer of nuance and understanding to the subject of study, because the researcher is encouraged to tap into the self, something that is not necessarily the case or even possible in studies that have only external participants. Since the act of researching through auto-ethnography is an embodied process, it allows the researcher to not only pass on knowledge but also pass on the experience of introspection, the conflicts, and the journey of arriving at that knowledge.
Outcomes
With independent research, while the final product often isn’t clear at the start, it emerges through the process of learning. I delve into the “outcomes” more here.