 CCC Blog Research into how to support at-risk users (SARU research) of technology ultimately helps protect all users. It helps us understand widespread and deeply impactful issues such as cyberstalking, online harassment, and digital exploitation. Yet such research can itself pose risks to participants, researchers, and more. These risks make it all the more important to strategically plan SARU research projects, beginning with purposefully selecting a research problem.
The Computing Community Consortium has released a new brief, titled The Problem of Problem Selection, to help researchers in the beginning of their journey into SARU research. This new brief is an outcome of the December 2024 visioning workshop Supporting At-Risk Users Through Responsible Computing. The workshop convened 49 researchers and practitioners from academia, industry, and civil society who work directly on issues affecting at-risk users of technology, discussing how to build a more rigorous and coordinated research agenda in this space.
Selecting a Research Topic
This brief is intended to assist all SARU researchers, from the student level to senior researchers. It proposes a thoughtful return to the fundamentals of problem selection, one that reminds us that research isn’t always the right solution to a problem. Rather, the goal of topic selection is to “pick the right problem at the right time.” One must evaluate how research itself will contribute to a desired outcome as well as who stands to benefit from that outcome.
Many SARU researchers are also drawn to research problems because of a personal connection. This brief highlights the advantages of such connections as well as the challenges they present, reminding researchers that it is necessary to strike a balance between personal investment and disinterested perspective.
Assessing SARU Research Risks
Beyond these guiding principles, the authors provide a comprehensive reference framework for assessing the risks of potential SARU research questions. Their Socio-Ecological Process Model poses specific questions that encourage researchers to consider the resources required to research their topic from all of the following areas:
- Individuals
- Labs
- Institutions
- Research Communities
- Policy, Funding, and Advocacy
These questions span the entire research life cycle (ideation, study design, study execution, paper-writing, and post-publication publicity). For instance, in the ideation phase, it asks what challenges will be present for individual researchers immersing themselves in the proposed work. And in the publicity phase, it asks what institutional supports are in place to handle potential media attention — both positive and negative.
By considering the risks of SARU research from all angles, researchers can approach their topics both more prepared to mitigate or eliminate them and more certain that their research is ultimately beneficial to affected communities.
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