RESEARCH METHODOLOGY: Comparative Cultural Studies and Internet-Based Research

In a previous article “Theoretical Background : A phenomenological approach of social science — How to look beyond what is seen and transcend the limits of the scientific orthodoxy”, the phenomenology was presented as a science of what appears to our conscience. Which means : like the animals live their existence in a proper perceptive ecosystem which results directly from their specific sensorial devices, the humans live their life in a proper perceptive ecosystem derived from the systemic technic tools of their time. In the digital era we are currently living, our daily devices are the ones of information technology, high-speed calculation and communication. This necessarily influence the way we perceive ourselves as individuals, social groups and humanity.

Because the perception depends on underlying conceptual schemes and linguistic particularities, which differs from a culture to another, two cultures using two different conceptual frameworks to describe the same phenomena, will not refer the same way to the same perception of the same world. In the worldwide digital transformation of cities, local particularities emerge, depending on the needs and the resources available, but also on the contextual elements and the cultural background. By deploying the same internet-based protocol of data collection in three culturally far contexts, I set the base of a comparative study of Smart-City and Civic Technology, in the look for common patterns and cultural specificity.