Chinese Censorship, at H ome, Abroad

1. Chinese Censorship, at Home, Abroad Daniel Murray Róisín Tangney Betty Maguire Justin Ahern A Continuation or a Break in a new country?

3. Introduction • A gap in the study of Chinese immigrants in Ireland: censorship • Few countries as thorough in its censorship as China. • ‘The Great Firewall’ • Wide range of topics taboo • Censorship leading to self-censorship

4. Public Security Bureau mascots

5. Google incident • Google versus Chinese government earlier this year over refusal to censor further. • Principled or trouble-making? Opinions of Chinese servers differ.

6. Research Question • Do Chinese in Ireland take advantage of non-censored internet to access information denied to them at home? (a) What kind of sites do they access in Ireland? (b) Which Internet sources do they find to be more reliable - Irish or Chinese? (c) Does their use of Internet in Ireland influence their attitude towards censorship at home?

7. Target Group • Chinese students in Ireland, as they would have experiences with both China and Ireland. • Chinese community in Ireland since 1950s but many would have limited contact with China.

10. OpenNet Initiative. (2009, June 15). Internet Filtering in China. Retrieved November 14, 2010, from OpenNet: http://opennet.net/sites/opennet.net/files/ONI_China_2009.pdf

11. Internet use in China • 420 million internet users • 162 million blogs • 30 million daily Kaixin users • 583.5 million mobile phone subscribers

12. What’s Blocked?

13. What’s Censored? Taiwan, Tibet, Tiananmen North Korea Falun Gong Religion Pornography News Stories

14. Do they want more information? • Anti-CNN movement following clashes in Tibet in 2008 • Race traitors targeted • Google controversy BUT …

15. Online discussion forums suggest many Chinese people want to end Internet censorship.

16. Chinese Community in Ireland Wang, Y. Y., & King-O'Riain, R. C. (2006). Chinese Students in Ireland. National University of Ireland, Maynooth, Dept. of Sociology. National Consultative Committee on Racism and Interculturalism.

17. Profile Study • 30,000 Chinese people living in Ireland • 3,000 3rd level Students

18. Co-Ethnic Researcher – Why? • Relates to target population • Body Language/Cultural differences • Communication • Comprehension • Participants’ rights • Recruitment

19. “Most of the interviewees do not use the Irish media often. They find the programmes are quite different from those in China …In the Chinese community they have their own media” (Wang and King-O’Riain, p.49)

20. Research Design • Betty Maguire

21. Mixed Methods Approach • ‘an approach to inquiry that combines or associates both qualitative and quantitative forms. It involves philosophical assumptions, the use of qualitative and quantitative approaches and the mixing of both approaches in a study’ Cresswell, P. 4

22. ‘Mixed Method Approaches involves the use of both quantitative and qualitative approaches in tandem so that the overall strength of a study is greater than either qualitative or quantitative Research’ Creswell&Plano Clark, 2007

23. Quantitative survey • 30 Qualitative face-to-face interviews

24. Paradigm • Social Constructivist Paradigm • participants’ views of the situation being studied • broad, open-ended questions

25. ‘Researchers realize that their own background shapes their interpretation, and they position themselves in the research to acknowledge how their interpretation flows from their personal, cultural and historical experiences’ Cresswell, p. 8.

26. Sampling • Snowball sampling • Snow-probability sampling technique • subjects are hard to locate http://www.experiment-resources.com/snowball-sampling.html

27. 2 Approaches First Approach • make initial contact with key informants • information rich cases Pickard, A.J. Research Methods in information, Facet Publishing, 2007, p. 65

28. Second Approach • an initial participant • interview and observation • characteristics and issues that need further inquiry Pickard, A.J. Research Methods in information, Facet Publishing, 2007, p. 65

29. According to Erlandson et al, 1993,82 “Purposive and directed sampling through human instrumentation increases the range of data exposed and maximises the Researcher’s ability to identify emerging themes”

30. Linear Snowball Sampling http://www.experiment-resources.com/snowball-sampling.html

31. Exponential non-discriminative sampling http://www.experiment-resources.com/snowball-sampling.html

35. Interview Questions Examples • Their opinions on broad issues, e.g. Taiwan, Tibet, etc • Opinions on recent incidents, e.g. Google v.s. Chinese government, 2008 food poisoning scandal, etc • Opinions on internet access in Ireland, as opposed to China? • Which would they trust more? Why?

36. Interview Focus • Emphasis on letting the responses of the focus group guide us during the interviews

37. Limitations • Small sample • Students only (3,000 out of total population of 30,000) Dr. O’Leary,R., Dr. Li, L., “Mainland Chinese Students and Immigrants in Ireland and their Engagement with Christianity, Churches& Society”, p. 3.

38. Costs • Phone credit • iPod as questionnaire incentive • Transcription costs • Funding • National Immigration Council of Ireland • Atlantic Philanthropies • Confucius Institute

39. Sensitive Issue • Perception of Preconceived Bias of Westerners • Co-Ethnic Researcher

40. Time Management

41. Ethics

42. Ethics • Sensitive Issue • Make Research Overt • Code of ethics • Informed Consent • Letter of request

43. Limitations • Team Bias • Small Sample Size • Controversial Subject Matter • Timeframe

44. Chinese Censorship, at Home, Abroad A Continuation or a Break in a new country?

45. Introduction • A gap in the study of Chinese immigrants in Ireland: censorship • Few countries as thorough in its censorship as China. • ‘The Great Firewall’ • Wide range of topics taboo • Censorship leading to self-censorship

46. Public Security Bureau mascots

47. Google incident • Google versus Chinese government earlier this year over refusal to censor further. • Principled or trouble-making? Opinions of Chinese servers differ.

48. Research Question • Do Chinese in Ireland take advantage of non-censored internet to access information denied to them at home?

49. Focus Group • Chinese students in Ireland, as they would have experiences with both China and Ireland. • Chinese community in Ireland since 1950s but many would have limited contact with China.

50. Research Approach • Mixed Methods: Qualitative and quantitative studies, with use of online questionnaires and interviews with volunteers