Okay, relating social media and unobtrusive research may just sound like another research method that individuals take on. However unobtrusive research does have an interesting hitch to it. Let me interest you, as I was interested with this topic at first.
The fun of unobtrusive research is the thrill of the people being studied do not know. Okay creepy may be another word to describe this type of research at this day in age. But in order to see people in their natural habitat with their actions, yes we have to be a little creepy. The examples that we went over in class were the museum floor, and finding out which painting is the most popular by the wear of the floor tiles. I found this very interesting and a fun way to conduct research.
Chelsea Handler, a television host and comedian, has a Twitter for example which is always updating what celebrities will appear on her late night show. This allows researchers to see what celebs are aired on Chelsea Lately without the celebs knowing. This type of research may benefit the celebrities so that the research isn’t done in an obnoxious way, presenting the information to the public. Using something as simple as Twitter that is so often being updates helps getting information without contact.
The way celebrities are so often stalked kept tabs on 24/7 it is a little difficult for these paparazzi’s to display unobtrusive research since they do not do a very good job of hiding themselves.
There is the debate whether unobtrusive research is ethical or not. And personally I think that it depends on the situation and what is being researched, mainly for what purpose. If researchers are tallying who is going to be on Chelsea Handler’s late night show I think it is ethical as long as the researchers are not flaunting their results to the public.
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