Research - Katy Pearce

My research looks at the adoption and use of information and communication technologies in less-studied cultural, economic, and political contexts – mainly authoritarian post-Soviet states, and primarily Armenia and Azerbaijan. People in these states experience great inequalities both when compared with the rest of the world and within their own societies. Resources are unevenly distributed – the foremost being economic resources. However, political power is in the hands of few. In some of these countries women and ethnic minorities also lack opportunities. Some argue that information and communication technologies can alleviate these inequalities. Yet, not only is there scant evidence that technology has the ability to empower, but also my work demonstrates that often technology benefits those in power the most and makes the lives of those on the wrong side of the gap worse. Moreover, rarely do scholars or pundits discuss the mechanisms by which information and communication technologies are having an effect. My work, thus, seeks to understand the how and why of digitally-enabled change in these diverse environments.
For adoption, I look at barriers to use – often socioeconomic, but sometimes political or cultural (for example, honor culture or gender). On the outcome of ICT use side, inequality is a frequent dependent variable, but I also study implications such as cosmopolitanism, capital enhancement, civic engagement, demand for democracy, social activism, and political change.
Methodologically, I employ mixed methods (survey, social network analysis, interviews, and observation). This is in part due to the challenging research environments as well as my belief in triangulation and letting my research question determine my toolkit, rather than the reverse.
Although my work is aimed at an academic audience, because it also has policy relevance, I also receive attention from policymakers and constituents of the research itself. Because of this, I always create lay abstracts of my academic articles that become blog posts, agree to be interviewed by journalists, and give formal or informal presentations to non-academic audiences.

Methodologically, most of my work is quantitative modeling, although I do some qualitative work especially for the purpose of triangulating. I mostly using public opinion surveys.

Most of my research takes place in the Former Soviet states known as the South Caucasus (Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia).

Theoretical Orientation

Affordances perspective – Looking at the affordances of information and communication technologies allows for a non-deterministic way of understanding the role of technology in a variety of outcomes.

Digital Divide: I study inequality – both as an antecedent to and an outcome of technology ownership and use. This is both an individual and a national level issue in my research.

Technology as capital enhancing: An important research question for me is the impact of information and communication technologies on capital – economic, social, political, cultural.

Impression management: A lot of my current work uses this framework for understanding socially mediated behavior.

Diffusion of Innovation: This theory of how, why, and at what rate new ideas spread or are rejected through social systems centers on conditions that increase or decrease the likelihood that something new will be adopted.

Media and Device Convergence, Mobile Technologies: A primary concept underlying some of my research is convergence, the integration of multiple sources of digitized content across devices and into single devices with multiple functions.

ICT4D: Information and Communication Technology for Development is an area in which I have professional experience and is an academic interest of mine.

Democratization and civic engagement: The relationship between democratization and civic engagement with information and communication technologies is something that I am currently exploring.

Political Trust: Political and institutional trust in a post-Soviet context as well as how technology use influences trust is a secondary research track.

Methodological Orientation

Cross-Cultural and Mixed Methods Research: While I am primarily a quantitative scholar, a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods, i.e., mixed methods research, provides for a better understanding of research problems, especially in cross-cultural research, than either method alone.

Social network analysis: I use a lot of SNA with social media data in particular.

I frequently use the Caucasus Barometer as a quantitative data source.

Research Venue

Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia are considered lower middle income states with national and household economies in transition, although the 3 neighbors have taken different trajectories. [Armenia still struggles with economic development for a variety of reasons AM economic overview; Azerbaijan has oil wealth AZ economic overview; Georgia democratized after a revolution in the early 2000s and has seen significant economic development since GE economic overview.

Despite their economic challenges, all 3 states have high levels of literacy and education. With nearly the entire populations being literate, I can control for the effect of literacy on technology adoption and use.

Culturally, people in this region are known for their love of life, strong ties to their family and friends, and a strong culture of hospitality. While there is variance within the countries and this manifests in different ways in the 3 different cultures, these old nations have long entangled histories.

…

TOPICS:

AUTHORITARIAN CULTURE/POLITICS AND TECHNOLOGY

A lot of my more recent work looks at authoritarianism and technology use – sometimes looking at the use by regimes and sometimes by citizens. Graduate students that are interested in political uses of information technology are welcome to contact me. I have taught a graduate seminar on this topic and will likely teach it again.

Pearce, K. E., & Guliyev, F. (in press). Digital knives are still knives: The affordances of social media for a repressed opposition against an entrenched authoritarian regime in Azerbaijan. In A. Bruns & C. Christensen (Eds.), Routledge companion to social media and politics (pp. x-x). Mahwah, NJ: Routledge/LEA.

Pearce, K. E., Barta, K., & Fesenmaier, M. (2015). The affordances of social media for relational maintenance in a distrustful society: The case of Azerbaijan. Social Media + Society. doi:10.1177/2056305115616150
Pearce, K. E., & Vitak, J. (2015). Performing honor online: The affordances of social media for surveillance & impression management in an honor culture. New Media & Society, x, x-x. doi:10.1177/1461444815600279
Pearce, K. E. (2015). Democratizing kompromat: The affordances of social media for state-sponsored harassment. Information, Communication & Society, 18, 1158-1174. doi:10.1080/1369118X.2015.1021705
Pearce, K. E., Freelon, D., & Kendzior, S. (2014). The effect of the Internet on civic engagement under authoritarianism: The case of Azerbaijan. First Monday, 19.
Pearce, K. E. (2014). Two can play at that game: Social media opportunities in Azerbaijan for government & opposition. Demokratizatsiya, 22, 39-66.
Pearce, K. E., & Hajizada, A. (2014). No laughing matter: Humor as a means of dissent in the digital era: The case of authoritarian Azerbaijan. Demokratizatsiya, 22, 67-85.
Pearce, K. E., & Kendzior, S. (2012). Networked authoritarianism & social media in Azerbaijan. Journal of Communication, 62, 283-298. doi:10.1111/j.1460-2466.2012.01633.x

CONTEXT COLLAPSE / IMPRESSION MANAGEMENT

Impression management is an important aspect of any study of socially mediated Internet use. I use this framework in much of my current work and teach a graduate seminar on the perspective, with a focus on impression management in mediated environments.

Pearce, K. E., & Vitak, J. (2015). Performing honor online: The affordances of social media for surveillance & impression management in an honor culture. New Media & Society, x, x-x. doi:10.1177/1461444815600279

TECHNOLOGY AND DEMOCRACY

Much of my previous work looks at the relationship between technology and democracy. In the coming years, my new project in this research track uses Bennett and Segerberg’s Connective Action framework to study at the tension between traditional opposition parties (and youth movements) and new digitally-enabled personalized action networks in Azerbaijan. Graduate students interested in youth movements and opposition with technology are welcome to contact me.

Nisbet, E. C., Stoycheff, E., & Pearce, K. E., (2012). Internet use and democratic demands: A multinational, multilevel model of Internet use and citizen attitudes about democracy. Journal of Communication, 62, 249-265. doi:10.1111/j.1460-2466.2012.01627.x

Pearce, K. E. (2011). Convergence through mobile peer-to-peer file sharing in the Republic of Armenia. International Journal of Communication, 5, 511-528. link

Pearce, K. E. (2010). Political trust in the post-coup attempt Republic of Armenia. Demokratizatsiya, 19, 58-83. link

AFFORDANCES PERSPECTIVE

I use the affordances perspective in a lot of my work. I’m also collaborating with other comm scholars on more theoretically-oriented pieces looking to extend the affordances perspective. I have a graduate seminar on the affordances perspective as well.

DIGITAL DIVIDE / USAGE GAP / CAPITAL ENHANCEMENT

I am continuing the line of research with my dissertation advisor, Ron Rice, that looks at the usage gap – demographically-determined digital divides in Internet use and activities and the impact on capital (economic, cultural, social) enhancement. I’ve taught graduate courses on technology and inequality in the past and may again in the future.

Rice, R. E., & Pearce, K. E. (2015). Divide and diffuse: Comparing digital divide and diffusion of innovations perspectives on mobile phone adoption. Mobile Media & Communication, 3, 401-424. doi:10.1177/2050157915590469

Pearce, K. E., & Rice, R. E. (2014). The language divide — The persistence of English proficiency as a gateway to the Internet: The cases of Armenia, Azerbaijan, & Georgia. International Journal of Communication, 8, 2834-2859. link

Pearce, K. E., Slaker, J. S., & Ahmad, N. (2013). Transnational families in Armenia and information communication technology use. International Journal of Communication, 7, 2128-2156. link

Pearce, K. E., & Rice, R. E. (2013). Digital divides from access to activities: Comparing mobile and PC Internet users. Journal of Communication, 63, 721-744. doi:10.1111/jcom.12045

Pearce, K. E. (2012). Information and communication technology diffusion in the Republic of Armenia. Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference on Information & Communication Technologies & Development, Atlanta, GA. doi:10.1145/2160673.2160713

MEMES

I’m not a memes scholar per se, but I have written about the use of memes both for dissent and for repression.

Pearce, K. E. (2015). Democratizing kompromat: The affordances of social media for state-sponsored harassment. Information, Communication & Society, 18, 1158-1174. doi:10.1080/1369118X.2015.1021705

Pearce, K. E. (2014). Two can play at that game: Social media opportunities in Azerbaijan for government & opposition. Demokratizatsiya, 22, 39-66.

Pearce, K. E., & Hajizada, A. (2014). No laughing matter: Humor as a means of dissent in the digital era: The case of authoritarian Azerbaijan. Demokratizatsiya, 22, 67-85.

MOBILE COMMUNICATION

I’m very involved in the mobile communication community and I sit on the editorial board of Mobile Media and Communication and am on the International Communication Association’s Mobile Communication Interest Group steering committee. I’ve taught mobile comm graduate and undergraduate courses in the past and may again in the future.

Pearce, K. E., Slaker, J. S., & Ahmad, N. (2013). Transnational families in Armenia and information communication technology use. International Journal of Communication, 7, 2128-2156. link

Pearce, K. E., & Rice, R. E. (2013). Digital divides from access to activities: Comparing mobile and PC Internet users. Journal of Communication, 63, 721-744. doi:10.1111/jcom.12045

Pearce, K. E. (2013). Phoning it in: Theory in mobile media and communication in developing countries. Mobile Media & Communication, 1, 76-82. doi:10.1177/2050157912459182

Pearce, K. E. (2011). Convergence through mobile peer-to-peer file sharing in the Republic of Armenia. International Journal of Communication, 5, 511-528. link