 Rebecca Ellis Research Fellow |
Tel:
+44 (0)1473 631179 Email: rellis non-Essex users should add @essex.ac.uk to create full e-mail address |
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Academic background Initially from a Human Geography Social Science background at both undergraduate and postgraduate level, I was awarded my PhD by the University of Sheffield in December 2001 for research on the cultural construction of home spaces ('Constructions of home - why some things matter and are made to matter: subjectivity, identity and performance in the home space'). This PhD work gave me an excellent grounding in a variety of qualitative methods and a broad knowledge of research in the consumption and identity field, which I have since been relating to the Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) area Areas
of interest Keywords: Consumption, identity performance, cultural politics, future homes, ambient intelligence, new media, e-commerce, small businesses, Broadband society. My core interests lie in the consumption area, including consumption and identity, and consumption and cultural politics. My PhD manifested this interest - looking at the construction of the home space (from purchase choice, renovation, decoration and the objects within it) and the performance of identity - including the cultural politics between partners in how the house is constructed. My consumption interests have subsequently moved on to thinking about these areas in relation to 'new media' and ICTs. This includes researching 'future homes' and so-called 'ambient technologies', which tend to rely on 'always-on' devices which 'run in the background' of people's lives (communications, health monitoring, surveillance, smart agents, environmental controls). These often challenge pre-existing and valued social and cultural boundaries (such as those of work and home) or involve conflict and negotiation over the shared use of technological resources and whose preferences they are set up for. A major new research area for me had been thinking through consumption and identity (and community) in new media environments, which manifested itself in an ESRC research proposal (and subsequent award) on eBay, the Internet auction site. eBay potentially presents new ways and new spaces to perform identities in relation to material culture and through consumption practices.
Radio Interviews 03/02/04 7.50am. BBC Essex radio interview with Rebecca, live.03/02/04 Essex FM, off air interview with Rebecca. 31/08/07 BBC World Service. Interview with Rebecca on eBay and sustainable consumption. Television interviews: 05/02/04 BBC London News. Regional news programme for the London area. Live interview with Rebecca at 1.30pm. Pre-recorded interview footage shown for the evening broadcast at 6.30 - 7pm.09/02/04 BBC Look East. Regional news programme for East Anglia. Pre-recorded interview with Anna Haywood and Rebecca. Shown at 6.30 - 7pm and 10.30 pm. Newspaper and magazine interviews 06/02/04 Times Higher Education Supplement, pg 3. Rebecca was interviewed by Alison Utley, in the context of a THES giveaway book on Machiavelli, which later fetched £10 on eBay a week later. March/ April 2006 edition. Interview for Australian Vogue, Felicity Loughrey, pgs 78 and 79 - eBay and addictive behaviours. March 2007. 'Sold on eBay's Success'. The Edge, Issue 24: 31 (Economic and Social Research Council). Spring 2007. Final results of 'Virtually Second-hand'. The Bulletin of the British Vintage Wireless Society, 32(1), 16-20.PhD Students Allison Boggis (PT) - 'Listen to me' - a study of disabled children's views and experiences of the daily use of communication technologies. Emma Bond (FT) - Children's Perceptions of Mobile Phones and Risk in their Everyday Lives. Lindsay O'Neill (FT) - Making sense of conflicts over control in shared households. I am open to approaches from prospective PhD students. Please contact me by e-mail if you are interested in PhD supervision. |
Skills Qualitative research methods - particularly in-depth interviewing (especially with couples and in the home), ethnographic methods and participant observation. Visual research methods (including giving research participants disposable cameras for self-directed photography) and how these should be incorporated with other qualitative methods. Online research methods and mixed method approaches. |
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Ellis, R. M. and Haywood, A. (2006) 'Virtual_radiophile (163 ): eBay and the changing collecting practices and geographies of the UK vintage radio community,' in Hillis, K.; Petit, M. and Epley, N. (eds). Everyday eBay: Culture, Collecting and Desire (Routledge, New York). ISBN: 0415974364.
Lyons, M.; Ellis, R.; Potter, M.; Holm, D. and Venousiou, R. (2006) 'The Socio-Economic Impact of Pervasive Computing: Intelligent Spaces and the Work-Home Boundary' in Steventon, A. and Wright, S. (eds) Intelligent Spaces: The Application of Pervasive ICT (Springer-Verlag UK). ISBN: 1846280028.
Ellis, R. (2004) 'Challenges of Work/ Home Boundaries and User Perceptions for Ambient Intelligence', in Cunningham, P. and Cunningham, M. (eds) e-Adoption and the Knowledge Economy: Issues, Applications, Case Studies (IOS Press, Amsterdam) 1395-1402. Volume Two. ISBN: 1-58603-470-7.