The methods is not equal to a methodology

During the Course: Design Research Methods, the first draft of my research Methodology come out. Here, I will briefly introduce the methods and how I am willing to use them.

Visual and spatial research methods: What is emoji?

Visual and spatial research methods are indicated valuable during the first phase. Visual and spatial research is the study and use of images based on the assumption that images encode data about values, norms and practices (Arthur, 2012). Emoji as not only images but a language should be taking seriously and comprehended within the social context. Researching the visual means put emoji in a social and cultural inquiry. The first method is image content analysis of emojis. Due to the big amount of emoji — 1,281 characters as emoji in Unicode 8.0.(Unicode.org, 2015), the researcher will carefully select ten emojis in each category groups — “smileys and people”, “animals and nature”, “food and drink”, “activity”, “travel and places”, “objects”, “symbols” and “flags”. The aim of visual research of emoji is to quantifying content according to categories, includes style, meaning and history, the researcher has the position of knowing through images and how images represent reality.

As an example, the emoji that shows two hands placed firmly together, the debate about the meaning of this emoji was raised in 2014. People are using this emoji as praying hands, also meaning please or thank you in Japanese culture. However, other people use this emoji as a high five which based on Western culture. When analysis this emoji carefully, the researcher noticed the thumbs are facing the same way that is not common for highfive someone else. At this phase, the visual content research is critical to avoid fundamentally flawed research and its irrelevant outcome.

Visual semiotics: How emoji present itself?

Visual semiotics is another research method adopted to analyzing the visual elements of emoji. It is a subdivision of semiotics which is specialized in the way visual images communicate meanings. Surrounded by symbols, signs and images, people has always strived to signify the visuals and made use of them for communication (Parsa, 2004). Study of the meaning of emoji need evolve from semiotics, a philosophical approach that attempt to explicate meanings in the field of signs and patterns of symbolism. The emojis can be divided into two components: the signifier—emoji itself and the signified, which is the concept that signifier represents and the meanings. The weakness of visual semiotic in this project is that semiotic analysis seems little more than an excuse for the researcher to show the appearance of comprehension through the use of specialized words which excludes other people from involvement. In practice, the semiotic analysis is always made up of individual readings. Furthermore, there are few researchers using semiotics to build up a strategy that can be applied to others (Chandler, 2002). By doing visual semiotics analysis, the researcher will use ethnography elements in research. Also, put emoji into historical context and social context, therefore, investigate the meanings (Rose, 2001).

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