This paper explores the potential of an online TimeBank for inclusive research to address some of the challenges related to the unequal distribution of power and money for researchers within and outside the academy working in collaboration. The problem, the concept of TimeBanking, and the relationship of TimeBanking to inclusive research principles are explained. The case is made for developing an online TimeBank for inclusive research, and an account is given of initial co-production of a prototype by an English interdisciplinary academic team and a Welsh workers cooperative set up and run by people with and without learning disabilities aiming to make public life more inclusive. The paper concludes that, while the concept is some way from becoming a reality, a hybrid digital-physical TimeBank, if accessible and flexible enough to attract usage, has potential for supporting democratised, inclusive research in practice.
This paper discusses the construction of a Social Machine, a socio-technical system in which people achieve new, creative goals enabled by automated processes that are handled by technology. Specifically, the Social Machine is an online TimeBank, a time-based way for people to give and receive services; it is designed for use in the context of inclusive research (initially) with people with learning disabilities.We describe the use of physical and digital (online) focus groups to gather inputs to drive the construction of the TimeBank, and the processes by which we analysed the data to inform the design of the TimeBank. Our goal is to create an online community with a sense of connectedness, and we discuss this work through that lens, presenting insights gained towards: building the TimeBank itself; methodological implications of related but separate physical and digital focus groups; and building Social Machines.
Changing Social Attitudes toward Disability is a fascinating edited volume with contributions from 15 authors, each presenting a well-written and thought-provoking insight into their academic world. The book's greatest strength is giving an academic reader an opportunity to gain flashes
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.