This assignment speaks directly to the seminar in week 6, in which we address the themes of digital divides. It also speaks to other themes covered in the first half of the module. You’ll need skills from week 4’s lecture and you may well find that some of your writing touches upon themes addressed in weeks 7,8 and 9.
This assignment involves auto-ethnography, which is a methodology that has its roots in anthropology and cultural studies.
An ethnographic (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. study is one that explores a particular culture, community or group and explores their everyday practices through participation and observation. A classic ethnography might, for instance, involve a researcher living with a nomadic tribe and learning their language, customs, rituals and rites.
An auto-ethnographic (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. study takes the researcher as the object of research and involves a process of critical self-reflection. We are going to be studying ourselves in this assignment and we must therefore work hard to create a distance between our ‘regular’ self and our ‘observing’ research self.

What does the assignment involve?
You are required to ‘unplug’ for 24 hours.
This means that for one whole day you are not allowed to engage with any technology that is, or can be, connected to the Internet. You may only use your mobile phone for traditional voice calls (no Skype, no WhatsApp or Messenger chat) and as an alarm clock. This also means no streaming services (Chill – but no Netflix), no digital radio, no Google Home, no Amazon Echo – nothing connected. Finally, this means no apps, no social media, YouTube or digital (whether on a television or via a computer) or any form of entertainment that requires an Internet connection.
Simple! Right?
Obviously you need to choose your day carefully. This exercise should be planned around work for other modules, paid work commitments, family commitments etc. Likewise, if you normally text or call a friend of family member at a specific time, you should consider informing them of your temporary digital hiatus. It is not a good idea to undertake this assignment when you are traveling, or when you might otherwise be reliant on the Internet for safety reasons.
What to do once you’ve unplugged.
1. Try and go about your everyday life. Ethnographic work is about studying everyday life. While we have asked you to do something out of the ordinary, you should try and lead a normal life during this experiment. This is not a lab experiment – you should continue on as normal.
2. Start making notes. During this period of Internet blackout you are going to be studyingyourself. We want you to keep a notebook and pen with you throughout this period. Write down your experiences of going without the Internet, without apps, without digital forms of communication. Note does your feelings and emotions. Write down any ideas or thoughts that come to mind. No doubt you will experience changes and differences in your usual routine and habits – write these observations down. Try to capture as much detail about your experience. And if you really really cannot manage six hours – explain why. Note down how you feel about having to ‘quit’.

What to do once the 24 hours is over.
We want you to write up your notes into a case study. This is why it is vital that you make notes during during the digital hiatus. Your notes will become your ‘field notes’, which you will refer to when writing this case study up. Do not submit your field notes. Your auto-ethnography should be presented as an essay.

Questions you might consider while writing up include:
1. When did you start and finish this exercise and why did you choose these times/dates?
2. How did you feel before, during and after the exercise? Did you prepare in any way?
3. What emotions did you experience? How did those emotions (not) change through the day?
4. What did you learn about your use of Internet-enabled technologies? Were there any surprises?
5. How did this affect your relationships with other people, with the spaces you occupied and with yourself?
6. In what ways did the absence of digital media in your life bring to light particular rituals, customs, practices or habits of digital use that you otherwise take for granted?

Points to consider:
Your work should be a piece of critical self-reflection. You are the primary research, but you may also draw upon secondary research in your writing. We encourage you to use the skills learned in week 4 to find relevant academic sources to support and expand upon points you make in your writing. Quotations (fully referenced) from relevant academic sources are welcomed.
This is an assessed piece of work that must be submited via Turnitin using Canvas.
The maximum word count (including quotations and references but excluding bibliography) is 1,500 words.
If you are unsure as to what constitutes plagiarism, collusion or academic misconduct, visit Skills Hub for more information.

Further information
The following two articles are additional reading that help you to understand what auto-ethnography is:

The first article is a definition of auto-ethnography.
Autoethnography-lisa-m-given-the-sage-encyclopedia-of-qualitative-research-methods-1_1_.pdf

The second article is an example of auto-ethnography being used in a research article.
williams_-_The_Weight_of_Things_Lost-_Self-knowledge_and_Personal_Informatics.pdf