(RE)CONSTRUCTING “DEVELOPMENT” IN THE CONTEXT OF DIGITAL LABOR

Across the globe, impacts brought about by the digital age are evident in different aspects
of everyday life, and in economic terms, the labor sector is no exception. The Online Labor
Index identifies Asia as the largest supplier of online gig work, contributing to more than 60
percent of the workers observed from four of the largest digital labor platforms in the world.
Furthermore, the Philippines ranks as the fifth highest provider of “digitally delivered freelance
work”, with approximately a 7-percent share in the global platform-based market (Lehdonvirta,
2017). As such, this renders digital labor to be a viable subject of research in multiple aspects,
including its potential for development communication intervention. For a more reflexive and
firm grasp of the situation, I intend to learn more about the digital labor economy, specifically
the lived experiences of development communication alumni, how development fits into this line
of work and environment, and what value it possibly holds in such a context.
The study aims to address the general question, “How do development communication
alumni who are engaged in digital labor reconstruct their views on development?” The main
objective of the study is to analyze how development communicators who are engaged in digital
labor reconstruct their views on development. Guided by the practical question, the research
objectives will further explore the following questions: 1) What are the previous notions of
development communication alumni about development, 2) What are the existing/current notions
of development communication alumni about development, 3) How has the digital labor industry
changed their views about development, 4) What effects do these social constructs of
development have over those who constructed them, and 5) What is the value that development
holds in digital labor.
The original research design is of a qualitative methodology wherein techniques of
discursive data acquisition will be employed by the researcher, such as intensive interviews and
focus groups. Data collection will begin with preliminary interviews, and the interrogatory data
collection process will be repeatedly conducted until data saturation (Charmaz, 2006). A direct
analysis of speeches by the investigated participants will then be conducted in a series of coding
processes, following the guidelines of grounded theory coding.
The participants chosen for the study will be based on snowball or chain-referral
sampling, with no particular restrictions regarding their demographics, the only qualifiers being
that they are 1) a development communication graduate and 2) currently employed in a job
related to the digital economy. Sampling procedures for the study will be purely theoretical, in
which the number of participants cannot be determined beforehand, and shall be dictated by the
results from data collection.
This study interrogates the possibility of looking into the value of development in the
context of digital labor. The research could possibly reveal what about the term, “development”
remains valuable in the environment of digital industries, and can also uncover problems that
may emerge in the use of the word and its elements, and whether these results could have an
implication towards further exploration. Moreover, the study could potentially provide
information regarding the way development is used and taught in the context of development
communication as a course and how it evolves into practice when translated into the work
environment.
 Literature Cited
Charmaz, K. (2006). Constructing Grounded Theory: A Practical Guide through Qualitative
Analysis. Introducing Qualitative Methods. SAGE. Retrieved from
http://www.sxf.uevora.pt/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Charmaz_2006.pdf
Lehdonvirta, Vili. (2017, July 11). Where are online workers located? The international division
of digital gig work. Oxford Internet Institute. Retrieved from
https://ilabour.oii.ox.ac.uk/where-are-online-workers-located-the-international-division
-of-digital-gig-work/