Studying Backyard Technologists

Abstract

This chapter begins by introducing the group, key characters and locations. Despite the prevalence of suburbia in Australian geography, backyards do not play an important role in constructions of national identity. I frame the study by arguing that mundane ordinary spaces, and attending materials and practices, play an important role in the development and understanding of everyday life and relationships to ICTs. I discuss the use of ethnographic methods and the challenges of dealing with constantly unfolding field sites and highlight some of the epistemological, methodological and practical issues that shaped fieldwork such as being documented as I documented others.