[ecrea] Call for Papers: Pre-Conference ICA 2017, San Diego – How to Quantify the Unquantifiable

*Call for Papers: Pre-Conference ICA 2017, San Diego*

*How to Quantify the Unquantifiable*

*The Methodology of Gender and Intersecting Dimensions of Identity*

Feminist Scholarship Division, LGBTQ Studies IG, Mass Communication Division

In the field of media and communication studies the methods we apply are 
informed by the theoretical paradigms of our investigations. Mass 
communication research on media users in long-running national surveys 
or media effects experiments are often tasked with reducing complex 
theoretical constructs to quantifiable categories. Similarly, research 
on representations in media applies categorical systematics to assess 
how gender, race, ethnicity, sexuality, disability, class, age, and 
other dimensions of identity are depicted across media outlets.

On the one hand, research applying standardized methods usually falls 
short in acknowledging the social construction and blurring boundaries 
of these categories. On the other hand, scholarship informed by 
deconstructivist theories has aimed to identify examples and patterns of 
media realities, but are sometimes criticized for including far-reaching 
conclusions without generalizable evidence.

Our keynote speaker, Prof. Dr. Susanne Kinnebrock (University of 
Augsburg, Germany) will open the pre-conference with an overview of how 
the concepts of gender and sex have historically evolved within our 
research traditions and how closely related our methodological 
approaches to these developments have been. This will set the stage to 
elaborate and think about ways to critically appraise gender and its 
intersecting dimensions within the quantitative paradigm.

Overall, the pre-conference aims to bring together scholars with 
different approaches to the same issues with the intention of informing 
as well as inspiring collaborative approaches across disciplines and 
paradigms. We invite innovative thinking on what methodologies are open 
to us, both when we ask questions concerning large populations or when 
we seek to quantify complex ideas. What methodological approaches can we 
productively employ while assessing matters of gender, sex, race, 
ethnicity, and class in a thoughtful manner?

In order to reach this goal we aim to

(a)highlight the newest developments in communication, media, and 
journalism studies by showcasing current research;

(b)include a workshop on how gender, sex, sexuality, race, ethnicity, 
class, disability, nationality, and other dimensions of identity are 
discussed within different cultures and research traditions; and

(c) open the floor for roundtable discussions with reports and questions 
from the scientific community on best practices concerned with questions 
of how to assess gender, sex, sexuality, race, ethnicity, or class 
within mixed or standardized methods.

We invite scholars who study gender and its intersecting dimensions and 
who use or would like to use new methodological approaches to 
participate and present their findings. To facilitate the roundtables, 
we ask participants to submit position papers on the pre-conference’s 
issues, research questions, or research problems that participants would 
like to discuss with other scholars. Scholars with an interest in 
methodological triangulations, mixed methods, replications, validation 
studies, and intersectional research are welcome to participate.

*How to participate*

We invite three types of submissions:

1.*Research reports*that share findings of systematic research projects 
that use, challenge, or subvert constructions of gender and other 
dimensions of identity. Please submit an abstract (approx. 500 words).

2. *Position papers* that discuss methodological issues in a current 
project, general conceptual issues, or possible questions to contribute 
during our roundtables on the advancement of investigating gender and 
other intersecting dimensions. Please submit an abstract (approx. 500 
words).

3. *Workshop proposals *that**suggest a workshop concept with 
activities, discussion questions, and other materials. A possible 
approach to the workshop can include a focus on examining specific 
concepts of identity dimensions in research traditions, paradigms, or 
historical periods of communication studies as a discipline. Other 
topics fitting the theme of the pre-conference are welcome (approx. 500 
words + materials).

*Please email all submissions and questions to 
(sabine.reich /at/ ijk.hmtm-hannover.de) 
<mailto:(sabine.reich /at/ ijk.hmtm-hannover.de)>.**Submissions are due by 
December 15, 2016, 11:59 EST.* Please clearly mark the submission type 
before the title and in your e-mail. Notifications of acceptance will be 
sent out by February 20, 2017.

*Pre-conference Organizers *

Sabine Reich, Institute of Journalism and Communication Research, 
Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media, Germany

Stine Eckert, Department of Communication, Wayne State University, USA

Natalia Rybas, Department of Communication Studies, Indiana University 
East, USA

Daniela M. Schlütz, Institute of Journalism and Communication Research, 
Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media, Germany

*Sponsors*

Department of Communication, Wayne State University, USA

Feminist Scholarship Division @ ICA

Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media, Germany

LGBTQ IG @ ICA

Mass Communication Division @ ICA


*____________________________*






Sabine Reich | Post-Doctoral Researcher | ijk.hmtm-hannover.de 
<http://ijk.hmtm-hannover.de> | Institute of Journalism and 
Communication Research |Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media | 
+49 511 3100480



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