Research

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Works in Progress

I'm currently working on my dissertation, which features data from Next Stop Design, a crowdsourced bus stop design contest funded by a grant from the Federal Transit Administration. Read the initial report from Next Stop Design.

Research Line

My research is concerned with media broadly, and with the Internet specifically.  My dissertation research, and the several studies I have conducted leading up to it, focus on the crowdsourcing model.  Crowdsourcing is an online, distributed problem solving and production model in use in for-profit contexts, and my ultimate goal is to learn enough about how the model works so that it can be used by governments and non-profits to solve some of the world's most pressing problems.

Publications

Brabham, D.C. (in press). Moving the crowd at Threadless: Motivations for participation in a crowdsourcing application. Information, Communication & Society.

  • Download: PDF (94KB)

Brabham, D.C. (Ed.).  (2009).  New media, new relations [Special issue].  Rocky Mountain Communication Review, 6(1). 100 pp.

  • A special issue of short pieces reflecting on the ways new media have changed industries, societies, and human relationships.  RMCR is a peer-reviewed communication journal by and for graduate students, published by the University of Utah.
  • Download: PDF (968KB)

Brabham, D.C.  (2009).  Crowdsourcing the public participation process for planning projects.  Planning Theory, 8(3), 242-262.

  • An article proposing the crowdsourcing model as a method for public participation in urban planning contexts.  Planning Theory is a peer-reviewed urban planning journal published by Sage.  A version of this paper was presented at the IAP2 Intermountain Chapter conference in 2008.
  • Download: PDF (154KB)

Brabham, D.C.  (2009).  Crowdsourced advertising:  How we outperform Madison Avenue.  Flow:  A Critical Forum on Television and Media Culture, 9(10).

  • A short article about crowdsourced advertising competitions, including the Doritos Crash the Super Bowl contest and experiments by Chevy Tahoe and Heinz ketchup.  Flow is a peer-reviewed media journal published by the University of Texas at Austin.
  • Download:  HTML or PDF (348KB)

Brabham, D.C.  (2008).  Moving the crowd at iStockphoto:  The composition of the crowd and motivations for participation in a crowdsourcing application.  First Monday, 13(6).

  • This article reports basic demographic data and motivations for participation, based on a survey of 651 iStockphoto members.  First Monday is a peer-reviewed Internet studies journal published by the University of Illinois at Chicago.
  • Download:  HTML or PDF (430KB)

Brabham, D.C.  (2008).  Crowdsourcing as a model for problem solving:  An introduction and cases.  Convergence:  The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies, 14(1), 75-90.

  • My first article on crowdsourcing, which makes the case for crowdsourcing as a problem solving model in public domains.  Convergence is a peer-reviewed new media studies journal published by Sage on behalf of the University of Bedfordshire, UK.  This article appeared in a special issue on "Convergence Culture," edited by Mark Deuze (Indiana) and Henry Jenkins (MIT).  This article received the University of Utah Graduate Research Award in the Humanities at commencement 2008.
  • Download:  PDF (152KB)

Brabham, D.C.  (2007).  Within reach:  Publishing as a graduate student.  Rocky Mountain Communication Review, 3(2), 42-46.

  • An invited article (editor-reviewed) providing advice for graduate students in communication who are interested in the publishing process.  RMCR is a peer-reviewed graduate student journal in communication.
  • Download:  PDF (367KB)

Brabham, D.C.  (2006).  Animated blackness in Shrek.  Rocky Mountain Communication Review, 3(1), 64-71.

  • A critical analysis of race in the movie Shrek, through the lens of Stuart Hall's tropes of blackness.  RMCR is a peer-reviewed communication journal by and for graduate students, published by the University of Utah.
  • Download:  PDF (649KB)

Brabham, D.C.  (2006).  Noticing design/Recognizing failure in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.  Space and Culture, 9(1), 28-30.

  • A short article about how the social collapse in New Orleans showed a lack of design thinking and forethought on the part of policymakers.  Space and Culture is a peer-reviewed journal of social spaces published by Sage.  This article appeared in a special issue on "Disastrous Social Theory:  Lessons from New Orleans," edited by Joost van Loon (Nottingham Trent) and Simon Charlesworth (Leeds Metropolitan).
  • Download:  PDF (97KB)

Book Reviews

Brabham, D.C.  (2008).  [Review of John Vivian's book The Media of Mass Communication (9th ed.)].  American Communication Journal, 10(1).

  • Review of the 9th edition of a popular mass communication textbook series.  ACJ is the peer-reviewed journal of the American Communication Association.
  • Download:  HTML or PDF (30KB)

Brabham, D.C.  (2008).  Imagination and the discursive construction of the Internet [Review of Patrice Flichy's book The Internet Imaginaire].  The Review of Communication, 8(3), 289-291.

  • Review of a book that makes the case that the Internet developed within a distinct technocultural discourse.  ROC is a peer-reviewed journal of the National Communication Association.
  • Download:  PDF (81KB)

Brabham, D.C.  (2008).  [Review of Ned Rossiter's book Organized Networks:  Media Theory, Creative Labour, New Institutions].  Resource Center for Cyberculture Studies (February).

  • Review of a book at the intersection of media and organizational communication theory.  RCCS is a non-profit cyberculture education and research organization organized by David Silver at the University of San Francisco.
  • Download:  HTML or PDF (41KB)

Brabham, D.C.  (2007).  Legal lag on the digital frontier [Review of Susan J. Drucker & Gary Gumpert's book Real Law@Virtual Space:  Communication Regulation in Cyberspace (2nd ed.)].  The Review of Communication, 7(1), 124-126.

  • Review of an edited volume of essays on Internet law.  ROC is a peer-reviewed journal of the National Communication Association.
  • Download:  PDF (42KB)

Recent Presentations

Brabham, D.C., Sanchez, T.W., Bartholomew, K., et al. (2010). Innovative applications of technology to transit planning. Panel to be presented at APA, New Orleans, Louisiana.

Brabham, D.C., Sanchez, T.W., & Bartholomew, K. (2010). Integrating previously uninvolved stakeholders in an online public participation program: The Next Stop Design case. Paper presented at the 2010 Stakeholder Engagement Conference, online.

  • Download: PPT (3.8MB)

Brabham, D.C., Sanchez, T.W., & Bartholomew, K. (2010). Crowdsourcing public participation in transit planning: Preliminary results from the Next Stop Design case. Paper presented at TRB, Washington, D.C.

Young, C. (moderator), Bregman, S., Litvak, J.F., Wood, J., & Brabham, D.C. (2009). New media / new tools. Panel presented at Rail~Volution, Boston, Massachusetts.

Brabham, D.C. (2009). Leveraging the collective intelligence of online communities for public good. Keynote address given at the Utah Open Source Conference, Sandy, Utah.

Brabham, D.C. (2009). Moving the crowd at Threadless: Motivations for participation in a crowdsourcing application. Paper presented at AEJMC, Boston, Massachusetts.

  • Download: PDF (94KB)

Brabham, D.C. (2009).  Crowdsourcing as a model for problem solving.  Invited presentation at Ignite Salt Lake 2, Salt Lake City, Utah.

  • Sponsored by O'Reilly Media, Ignite features fast-paced presentations of 20 slides that automatically advance every 15 seconds on both humorous and scholarly topics.
  • Watch: HTML
  • Download:  PPT (2.2MB)

Brabham, D.C. (chair and panelist), Jeppesen, Lars Bo, Lietsala, Katri, & Muthukumaraswamy, Karthika (panelists).  (2008).  Crowdsourcing:  The growing influence of crowds in business, journalism, entertainment, and problem solving.  Roundtable panel presented at AoIR, Copenhagen, Denmark.

Brabham, D.C.  (2008).  Crowdsourcing:  A next-generation connection.  Invited presentation to the Intermountain Chapter of IAP2, Logan, Utah.

Brabham, D.C.  (2008).  Crowdslapping the government:  First Amendment protections for the crowd in government crowdsourcing ventures.  Paper presented at AEJMC, Chicago, Illinois.

Brabham, D.C.  (2008).  Digital veils, virtual triage, and health taboos:  Health information seeking and anonymity on the Web.  Paper presented at AEJMC, Chicago, Illinois.

Ortiz, Erin E., & Brabham, D.C.  (2008).  New media meets organizational communication:  Re(de)fining professionalism through online peer collaborations.  Position paper presented at Organizational Communication at Alta Revisited, Snowbird, Utah.

Brabham, D.C.  (2008).  Crowdsourcing public participation.  Invited presentation to the Intermountain Chapter of IAP2's brown bag lecture series.