[ecrea] call for papers merzWissenschaft 2017 - Between Digital Humanities and Subject Orientation

Once more I’d like to call your attention for the call for papers of 
/merzWissenschaft/ 2017. The issue of this number is dealing with the 
challenges of computer-based research and Big Data Analytics in social 
science research. Researchers of all social science disciplines are 
invited to contribute with their thoughts and experiences.

*Social Science Research between Digital Humanities and Subject Orientation*
Responsible Editors: Prof. Dr. Heidrun Allert (Kiel University) and the 
/merzWissenschaft /editorial team (JFF)

/merzWissenschaft /2017 is working to stimulate scientific reflection on 
the challenges and consequences associated with the application of 
computer-based procedures in social science research and to anchor such 
reflection in media literacy discourse. The objective is to formulate a 
position regarding the application of digital procedures in scientific 
activities and in doing so to address the question of how digital and 
computer-based media literacy research is, can be and should be. The 
spectrum to be considered ranges from new data collection methods (e. g. 
integrated in apps) to the use of Big Data Analytics to evaluate large 
and small and possibly personalized data inventories in order to derive 
findings, up to and including the question of knowledge exchange and 
availability. The focus is on both original media literacy research and 
research in the relevant involved disciplines (Communication Sciences, 
Education, Sociology, Psychology, Information Science, etc.).

According to Schrape (2016) the term 'Big Data' refers generally to 
projected expectations of both utopias and dystopias. Given this tension 
between expectation and apprehension, existing publications in the field 
of media education are concerned primarily with the question of what 
conclusions are to be drawn for media-educational practice.

However, Big Data Analytics are being attributed a new epistemological 
access to social process. It is postulated that Data Mining approaches 
are able to represent and analyze societal processes objectively and 
independent of theoretical presuppositions, and that these approaches 
can thus be considered superior to established methods of social science 
research. This highlights the differences between 'data-driven' and 
'theory-driven' scientific approaches, also marking a threshold beyond 
which digital processes are not solely aids or tools for scientific 
activities. The question is much more to what extent these procedures 
conflict with central principles of social science research in general 
and media literacy research in particular such as the subject 
orientation and unique adequacy of data collection methods. 
Correspondingly, social science research as well as media education as a 
scientific discipline must confront such approaches in a 
critical-reflective manner in order to confirm their theoretical and 
methodological repertoire and when necessary to adopt data-driven 
approaches or to reject them with sufficient justification.

Such critical reflection is a necessary concern when investigating the 
extent to which central theoretical concepts (e. g. normative 
orientation towards subject self-determination) are compatible with the 
implications of the digital procedures and/or where conflicts occur in 
this context. Here an important foundation is the encounter with human 
images and the subjectivization processes in the relationships between 
people, digital (media) systems and institutions as well as companies. 
The opposing poles of this current discourse are evident on the one hand 
in the prospect of computer-assisted humans as human-machine hybrids (or 
cyborgs), in which the technologies employed expand the abilities of the 
human to act. Such concepts contrast with theoretical traditions that 
regard computerized evaluation and decision-making procedures as 
limiting the human being's scope of action. Between these poles is the 
position of the co-constitutive intermeshing of humans and technology, 
where the qualities of both humans and technologies are emergent in 
practice. In this view, the ability to act is not (only) expanded, but 
rather qualitatively transformed. Thus representation of and reflection 
on the question of which theoretical approaches and basic assumptions 
are to be employed is an absolute prerequisite for the determination of 
a media-educational position. This is in particular the case since the 
platforms and technologies themselves already create or contribute to 
the creation of reality and are never neutral with respect to the 
objects relevant for media literacy research in particular and social 
science research in general. This also has an impact on the associated 
discussion and helps determine which questions and processes are at the 
focus of social scientific observations.

At the same time the question arises as to who has access to relevant 
data inventories and to what extent independent research is possible 
using such data, since precisely that data generated in day-to-day media 
activity is not freely accessible (for good reason). Nevertheless 
digital service providers can accumulate an extensive amount of data 
that they can then evaluate using the appropriate methods. The inherent 
questions of disparate conditions and prerequisites for commercial and 
academic research require particular reflection and critical 
consideration in the societally relevant area of media literacy education.

/merzWissenschaft /2017 would like to call for theoretical or empirical 
articles that address the topic areas outlined above from the point of 
view of social science research and which can thus be instructive for 
media education. Here topics may cover the following possible areas:

- What challenges are associated with media literacy issues in 
scientific activities with respect to digitalization?

- What theoretical and normative questions arise in connection with the 
relationships among humans – media – society with respect to 
digitalization as a basis for media literacy research and practice?

- How does the current development of continuing digitalization impact 
the concept of being human in research as well as in media-educational 
approaches?

- What new digital practices and methods are developing in media 
literacy research and/or in related disciplines? How are these related 
to central premises of the formation of theory such as orientation of 
actions, subject orientation, etc.? How are they to be regarded in terms 
of normative concepts such as media literacy and media literacy education?

- What current empirical findings have already been made through the 
novel use of digital technologies in media literacy research and/or in 
related scientific areas?

- What consequences are to be expected from the scientific encounter 
with the relationships among humans – digital media – society for the 
development of media literacy models?

/merzWissenschaft /provides a forum advancing scientific analysis in 
media education and promoting progress in the theoretical foundation of 
the discipline. In this capacity /merzWissenschaft/ is calling for 
qualified papers from various relevant disciplines for the continuing 
development of expert discussions on media literacy.

Of interest are original papers:

·      - With an empirical or theoretical foundation

·      - That present new findings, aspects or approaches to the topic

·      - That are also explicitly related to one of the subareas or 
topics outlined above or that explore a separate topic within the scope 
of the overall context of the Call.

Abstracts with a maximum length of 6,000 characters (including blank 
spaces) can be submitted to the /merz/- editorial team ((merz /at/ jff.de)) 
until no later than February 27, 2017. Submissions should follow the 
/merzWissenschaft /layout specifications, available at 
www.merz-zeitschrift.de (at merz >für autoren und autorinnen > style 
guide merz). Please contact Susanne Eggert, tel. +49 89 68 989 152, 
e-mail: (susanne.eggert /at/ jff.de) with any questions.

*Summary of Deadlines*
February 27, 2017: Submission of abstracts to (merz /at/ jff.de)
March 20, 2017: Final decision on acceptance/rejection of the abstracts
June 12, 2017: Submission of papers
June 12 to July 24, 2017: Assessment phase
August/September 2017: Revision phase (with multiple cycles, when 
appropriate)


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