The Shutdown Method: A Resource Kit

Abstract

This paper presents a resource kit for researchers interested in looking at technology use. The Shutdown Method is a qualitative research approach to facilitate the analysis of the use of technologies by observing what happens without them. A similar approach known as the Cold Turkey Method was used at RMIT University in Australia as part of a Media and Communications course. The idea and the name were also partly inspired by the annual International Shutdown Day (Bystrov and Taylor 2007), a social experiment in which people from around the world are requested to go without their computer for a day. In each case, the purpose of forgoing technology is to bring the everyday experience of technologies into sharp relief.