Background

This is a sociological project that seeks to understand the ways in which the introduction of the Internet changes interpersonal relationships in the process of knowledge production.

The origin of this project was pure luck. The Dutch government funded a survey to understand the conditions of scientific work in three countries. We did a study in 1994 of scientific communication in Ghana, Kenya and Kerala, India. Only later did we realize that we have the perfect baseline for the study of the effects of the Internet on social relationships.

Participants

Wesley Shrum (Baton Rouge, Louisiana--project director, 1992)

Paul Mbatia (Nairobi Kenya, 2000)

Antony Palackal (Trivandrum, Kerala, 2002)

Dan-Bright Dzorgbo (Accra, Ghana, 2000)

R. Sooryamoorthy (Durban, South Africa, 2000)

Marcus Ynalvez (Laredo, Texas--Phillipines coordinator, 2002)

Rick Duque (Baton Rouge, Louisiana--Chile coordinator, 2001)

Meredith Anderson (Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 2004)

Paige Miller (Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 2004)

Binu Palarayil (Trissur, Kerala, 2006)

Journal

Hostel of Doom, a graduate student's true-life tale of captivity in the Nairobi YMCA. Summer 2002.

Ghana 2003, Field Note from Ghana.

Biographies

Wesley Shrum

I am a Professor of Sociology at LSU, where I have been since 1982 when I received my Ph.D. from Princeton. My dissertation was on the topic of scientific communication in the U.S., in the context of two 'technical systems': radioactive waste management and solar photovoltaics. After some years and scholarship, I switched my focus over to developing areas, and have been working in Kenya, Ghana, and Kerala (India) since 1992.

Paul Mbatia is currently a Senior Lecturer and Chair, Department of Sociology, University of Nairobi. He attained his first two degrees (B.A. and M.A.) in 1985 and 1988 respectively at the University of Nairobi. In 1996, he attained his Ph.D. in Sociology at Indiana University, USA. He has been at the University of Nairobi at both undergraduate and postgraduate level for over 13 years, pursuing academic interests in the sociology of development, social change, science & technology, research methods and the management of health care by the State in developing countries. Besides teaching, Dr. Mbatia has conducted many academic research projects and consultancies for local and international organizations in Kenya.

Overall, in his teaching and research engagements, Dr. Mbatia has sought to understand the role of the African State in development. Currently, he is also involved in the World Science Project that seeks to understand, inter alia, how Information & Communication Technologies (ICTs) have impacted on the lifestyles and productivity of scientists and researchers in developing countries.

Antony Palackal
Currently teaching in the Post Graduate Department of Sociology in Loyola College of Social Sciences, Kerala, India. I have been the Director of the Project CHILDLINE Nodal agency, Trivandrum, Kerala, India - a project of the Government of India, in partnership with UNICEF and NGOs in 2000–2002. I have worked as the Coordinator, Study Abroad Programme of Cleveland State University, Ohio, U.S.A from 1999-2001. I have Coordinated the activities of Street Educators Counselling Training Programme, a project of UNICEF and NISD (National Institute for Social Welfare) New Delhi fro the Southern Region in India, comprising four states. I have done my post graduation in Sociology from Delhi School of Economics, Delhi University and obtained PhD from University of Kerala, India for the doctoral dissertation in the area of Globalization and Culture. Besides having published several research and popular articles, I have authored ‘Culture, Resistance and Spirituality’ in the regional language (2000), and co-authored ‘Managing Water and Water Users – Experience from Kerala’ (2003). Areas of specialization include Sociology of Development, Social Movements, Cultural Dynamics and Gender and Society. I work as a consultant and trainer to several NGOs and socio-political movements in Kerala.

I have been associating with World Science Project in the capacity of India Coordinator since 2002. In connection with the study, I have organised and supervised quantitative surveys in Kerala with the help of a team of postgraduates, guided and supervised the coding of the quantitative data and conducted qualitative interviews with the scientists in Trivandrum, Kerala. I have also guided and supervised the coding of qualitative interviews from all the areas of the study in QSR Nvivo – software for the coding of qualitative data. Collaborating with a committed team of researchers with Prof. Wesley Shrum, a seasoned academician as the team leader has been a true growth experience for me both academically and personally. Having associated with a research programme that studies professional collaboration, networking etc, offered me personally enriching experience and valuable lessons in these areas.

R. Sooryamoorthy
I am currently Associate Professor (and Academic Coordinator) in the Department of Sociology at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban (tel: +27 31-260-1254, email: sooryamoorthyr@ukzn.ac.za). I obtained my Masters and Ph.D in Sociology from the University of Kerala, India. Previously I taught at the Nagarjuna University (India), Loyola College of Social Sciences (India), and at the University of Calgary (Canada). My major works include Managing Water and Water Users: Experiences from Kerala, (coeditor, University Press of America, Lanham, USA), NGOs in India: A Cross-sectional Study (coauthor, Greenwood Press, Westport, USA), Climbing Up: The Story of Palmyrah Workers' Development Society (author, PWDS, Tamil Nadu), Extension in Higher Education: Evolving New Models, (coeditor, Vikas Publishing House, New Delhi), Consumption to Consumerism: In the Context of Kerala (author, Classical Publishing Company, New Delhi), and Science in Participatory Development, (coauthor, Zed Books, London).

Since 2000 I have been associating with the World Science Project. To begin with he conducted surveys and qualitative interviews, with a team of Masters students, in Kerala. In 2002, I moved to South Africa to take up a job at the University of KwaZulu-Natal where I continue pursue my interests in scientific communication in South Africa. When I look back I find that my association with the project, particularly with Wesley and his team, has helped me in great deal. Both academically and professionally I learned several things and the experience has been wonderful. I look forward to more opportunities for learning in this project.

Dan-Bright Dzorgbo is Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Ghana, Legon. His major research interests include Social and Economic Issues in Development, Political Development, Governance and Democratization, the Social and Economic and Behavioral Dimension of Health, and the Patterns and Impact of Scientific Communication in Ghana and Africa. Address: Sociology Department University of Ghana P. O. Box LG 65 Legon-Ghana; telephone: 233 21 500312 Ext.6161/6084; cell phone: 233 20 8152665; email: ddzorgbo@yahoo.co.uk

Marcus Ynalvez is instructor at the Louisiana State University Department of Sociology. He teaches statistics and research methods. Marcus’ research interest is at the intersection of science and technology studies, international development, and social networks. He is particularly interested in studying the sociology of techno-scientific systems and the sociology of technical disasters.

Since joining the department in 2001, Marcus has been working with Professor Wesley Shrum on the World Science Project, which examines the impact of new information and communication technologies on the nature and structure of knowledge production in developing countries (Chile, Ghana, India, Kenya, the Philippines, and South Africa). In this capacity, Marcus had the opportunity to manage and coordinate face-to-face surveys of 315 Filipino scientists in January to March 2005, and 300 Kenyan scientists in June-July 2005.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Marcus has been involved with the departments’ Displaced People Needs Assessment Study, wherein he was one of the analysts who conducted qualitative digital video interviews of evacuees in the Baton Rouge area. At present, He is also involved with the Department’s on-going New Orleans Levee Breach Study. The purpose of this project is to delve into the social aspects of the levee breach and connect these with the engineering and technical aspects.

Ricardo Duque. Rick Duque is completing his PhD(ABD)in Sociology at Louisiana State University. Rick has extended the World Science Project to Latin America. Since 2004, he has video interviewed over 30 Chilean scientists and coordinated a comprehensive communication survey of over 300 more. Preliminary findings have been presented at conferences in Paris 2004, Pasadena 2005 and most recently in Tunis 2005 at an official WSIS side event that he helped organize, "Past, Present and Future of Research in the Information Society". Rick is originally from Los Angeles, California where he received a B.A. in Economics from UCLA.

Meredith Anderson is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Sociology at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. She is a qualitative methodologist whose research interests lie in the intersection of science, technology, gender and development. Meredith has been a member of the World Science Project since 2003, during which time she has focused on the manner in which the Internet has impacted the social and professional networks of female scientists in Kerala, India. Currently, Meredith is expanding her research to include digital video ethnography and the difficulties faced by a western woman studying gender stratification within the Indian social context. She plans to complete her Ph.D. in 2008 and eventually work in technological development initiatives for developing world women.

Paige Miller: I am a sociology graduate student in my third year at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA. I received my master’s degree in the summer of 2005, and I am currently working towards my PhD. My bachelor’s degree in sociology was received from Black Hills State University in Spearfish, South Dakota, USA in 2003. Since joining the project in the spring of 2004, I have traveled to Kerala, India to assist in interviewer training for the third wave of the study. In the fall of 2005, I traveled to Tunisia to participate in the World Summit on the Information Society. Along with my colleagues, I organized an exhibition booth displayed at the main summit. I currently have one co-authored publication: “Gender Stratification and E-Science: The Case of Women Scientists in the Developing World.”

Binu Palarayil completed has degrees in Sociology from Loyola College of Social Science, Thiruvanthapuram and Rural Development from Indira Gandi National Open University, New Dehli. He completed his MPhil from M.K University (Madurai) and received a Senior Research Fellowship from the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, working as a Senior Research Fellow for three years in Kerala Agricultural University Thrissur. He has published three papers in international journals and four papers in national journals. Since 2003 he has worked as a Post Graduate Lecturer in Vimala College (Thrissur) and is also a faculty member in Kerala Police Academy and Indira Gandhi National Open University, Calicut University. His research areas include Science and Society, Globalisation and Perspective Dynamics in Modern Society.