Master of Communication Science, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Diponegoro University held a National Webinar of “Qualitative Research in the Digital Era” (29/9). Present as resource persons are Dr. Eriyanto (Lecturer at University of Indonesia / Communication Research Expert / Author of “Communication Network Analysis”) and Dr. Turnomo Rahardjo (Lecturer of Department of Communication Science Undip). The moderator of this event is Dr. Lintang Ratri Rahmiaji, S.Sos., M.Si (Lecturer of Department of Communication Science Undip).
In delivering his material, Dr. Turnomo conveyed about phenomenological research. The scope of its studies is about how an object looks like or object appears (phenomena) into the subject’s experience.
“Phenomenology sees objects or events from the perspective of a person as a perceiver. We consciously know an experience or event and test our perception of the event. All we can know is what we experience. Phenomenology means letting something be seen or manifest as it is,” he said.
In phenomenological research, there are many steps including making a summary of the overall research; confirming the results of the study by stating differences from previous research; explaining the results of research with the possibility of further research; linking research results with the usefulness of research; linking research results with the research profession; linking research results with social relevance; and closing the explanation by offering the purpose and direction of further research.
In his material entitled “Netnography, a Qualitative Approach in Understanding Conversation in Social Media”, Dr. Eriyanto said that Netnography started from an online/digital footprint. Digital footprint is the recorded behavior of people in the digital world. This digital footprint takes various forms, ranging from posts on social media, comments on shopping forums, keywords in search engines, comments on online forums, etc.
The netnographic method has undergone a change from the previous study of virtual communities on the internet to the study of conversations on social media. The changes in focus of netnographic study cannot be separated from the development of technology and the presence of social media. The development has changed the presence of individuals on the internet.
“Netnography is research based on data or data-sites. In the initial stage, researchers must deal with very large amounts of data or big data. Researchers must collect, sort and select the data to be relevant to the research objectives. At this point, researchers can use software, especially those used to retrieve data. Even though using software, Netnographic researchers must realize that Netnography research is first-hand research and the researcher is the instrument itself. Software should not replace the basic principles of netnography such as engagement and immersion,” he explained. (Linda – Public Relations)
Translated by: Titis (Public Relations)