The multi-variation approach

Abstract

This article argues that a multi-variation approach can be a useful supplement to existing ethnographic studies in the field of Human-Robot Interaction (HRI). The multi-variation approach builds on classical ethnographic case studies, where a researcher studies a delimited field in a microstudy of a particular robot, its makers, users, and affected stakeholders. The approach is also inspired by multi-sited studies, where researchers move across fields, adding to the complexity of the ethnographic findings. Whereas both approaches build on analysis of microstudies, the multi-variation approach is further inspired by postphenomenology, where the main aim is to deliberately seek variation – thus again adding to the complexity of the detailed findings. Here, the multivariation approach includes several researchers studying several types of robots across sites. The analytical approach seeks patterns across this complexity – and the claim is that a multi-variation approach has a strength in findings that are systematic and consistent across cases, sites, and variations. The article gives an example of such cross-variation findings in the robot field – namely the tendency for roboticists across cases and robot types to publicly present their robots as more finished and wellfunctioning than they actually are.

Towards a conceptualisation and critique of everyday life in HRI

“…At the same time, the idea of introducing social robots into people’s daily life often remains more in the realm of motivation for social robotics rather than the actual conceptualisation and empirical study, or is only vaguely addressed, e.g., in terms of the “presence” of robots in our everyday life ( Fortunati et al, 2015 ; de Graaf et al, 2016 ; Rossi et al, 2020 ). In other words, as already pointed out elsewhere ( Hannibal, 2016 ; Weiss and Hannibal, 2018 ), the idea of placing robots in the everyday life contexts lacks a clear understanding of the everyday and is often taken-for-granted in both research and public debates. To the best of our knowledge, in addition to generic calls for an interdisciplinary reflection on the impact of robots on people’s everyday lives ( Ray et al, 2008 ), so far there has been only one attempt made to address everyday life as a distinct research theme in HRI, namely the Everyday-life centred approach (ELCA) ( Weiss and Hannibal, 2018 ).…”

“…Also, in the contemporary society, daily life has been increasingly taking place in virtual or otherwise technologicaly-mediated spaces, including 'no-places' such as the internet. While multi-sited approaches are well-known in SSH, particularly in ethnographic research (Hasse, 2019;Pink et al, 2020), choosing specific sites for analysis is far from being a trivial task, and should always involve participation of the persons whose lives we actually study. Perhaps a useful analogy in this context that comes from the SSH research is that of 'horizons' .…”

Human-Robot Dichotomy

“…As part of the project, more than 10 researchers conducted ethnographic research on robot design, development, and implementation, along with related ethical challenges. The project works from a 'multi-variation' approach, first seeking variation in robot types, geographical places, and types of organisations, followed by seeking patterns across variations (see [1]). The main data-collection method was in-depth interviews, with both robot developers and end-users/affected stakeholders.…”