Reflexive Digital Methods In The Social Sciences And Humanities - Beyond ‘Blind’ Users And ‘Blind’ Critics

At present we can observe that on the one hand 'blind' users of digital methods are trained at universities and on the other hand 'blind' critics of these methods, mostly with a humanities or social science background. However, for innovations in the field of method development, an interdisciplinary dialogue between information sciences and social sciences is needed. The opportunity of Digital Humanities lies therefore in the cooperation of methodological criticism in the humanities and social sciences and the application of the methods in information technology. In this way, both areas can show each other possibilities of research and learn from each other, but they can also enforce a critical perspective.
My project aims to develop a ‘reflexive methodology’ at the intersection of information sciences and social sciences. On the one hand, it wants to make the process of methodological research itself the object of analysis and at the same time reflect on its own research practice. Basically, a reflection on methodological approaches as well as the procedures, techniques, methods, conceptualizations and methodological challenges will be suggested. Possibilities of innovative - digitally supported - social research will be explored. The project can be described as ‘reflexive ethnography of science’ because it uses the ethnographic method and combines it with text-hermeneutical approaches (supported by audio-visual recording devices) to make methods in the humanities and social sciences the subject of discussion. This new form of meta-social research brings together science, society and technology and intends a reflexive methodology.