Communicative Ecology - Scope, Resolution and Granularity

Scope, Resolution and Granularity

The study of a communicative ecology requires decisions to be made concerning the scope of both data collection and analysis. Prior to data collection, a decision must be made as to the investigative frame of the study, whereas decisions regarding the analytical scope of a study may be made after a rich picture of the ecology has emerged.

While an ecological study aims to be holistic, an appropriate frame for the study must be decided upon at the outset. The scope of communicative ecology research settings is generally restricted to a bounded geographical space. It has been proposed that the communicative ecology framework is suited to studies at the level of the dwelling, neighbourhood, suburb or city (Hearn & Foth, 2007). However, it is also suitable for studies of communicative ecologies that are grounded in online environments. In this case, the setting could be limited to one or several websites (Button & Partridge, 2007).

Temporal considerations may also shape data collection procedures. For example, an ecology could be examined at a single point of time or longitudinally. It is possible that the nature of a communicative ecology may also vary according to time of day, week or season.

The analysis of a communicative ecology can occur at both macro and micro levels within this spatiotemporal frame. It can help to think of a communicative ecology as a map and its edges as the frame. We can increase the resolution of certain features by using a magnifying glass. By stepping away from the map, we can increase the granularity of our view and see how features interrelate with the ecology as a whole. In this way, the interrelationships between agents are not ignored, as they may be in studies that focus on single communication devices or applications, but may be temporarily set aside while other features are examined more closely. By viewing the map as a whole first, the researcher may be able to make better analytical choices than was possible prior to data collection.

Some possible methods for delimiting the analytical scope of a communicative ecology study include using features of a layer or another characteristic. For example, the analysis could be delimited to examining the ecology of an individual, a small social network or group, or by certain demographic characteristics. It could focus on the ecology of a specific theme of communication, form of media or technology, setting or activity. Alternatively, it could investigate a single dimension of a communicative ecology, for example, only local or public forms of communication.