Thinking Through New Methodologies. Sounding Out the City With Teenagers

Linda O’Keeffe

doi:10.18778/1733-8077.11.1.01

Authors

Linda O’Keeffe Lancaster Institute of Contemporary Art, UK

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18778/1733-8077.11.1.01

Keywords:

New Methodologies, Sound, Sound Mapping, Soundwalks, Soundscape

Abstract

This paper explores the place for sound within social theory, more specifically, how sound as a subject can be interpreted methodologically. The paper examines the various methods implemented within a Ph.D. research project. The research adopted a participatory approach, examining the missing voices in the post design of place. In this way, the research focused on those groups often excluded in the design of urban space, teenagers. The methods included participant documented soundwalking, sound mapping, focus groups, and ethnographic soundwalks. This paper argues that a closer attention to sound, when examining the urban area, will help shape one’s understanding of the everyday. Methods that explore sound as part of the makeup of social life, either as place building or space making, whether they are politically intentional or historically relevant, need to be advanced.

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Author Biography

Linda O’Keeffe, Lancaster Institute of Contemporary Art, UK

Linda O’Keeffe is a lecturer in Sound and Image at the Lancaster Institute of Contemporary Art. Her field of research is in the area of sound: in fine art, within new media technology, as well as examining urban sound as a sociological construct. She is currently working on a research project funded by the Irish Research Council investigating Co-Constructed Audio-Code Applications as a Platform of Social and Creative Engagement for Older People.

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