About
Marit Haldar, Phd in sociology, is professor at Oslo Metropolitan University and director of CEDIC (Centre for the study of digitalization of public services and citizenship). Important themes in her research are childhood, the elderly, gender, family, social inequality, social isolation and tele-presence. Equality and vulnerable subjects in the welfare state and health care system are primary concerns of her research. Her overall studies of normality and cultural perceptions of deviance have contributed to new understanding of what creates social inequality. Haldar has developed a novel methodological approach to qualitative research which is acclaimed in international methodology literature (see Silverman, D. 2011, "Interpreting qualitative data", 4th ed. London: Sage). She has also participated in several cross-diciplinary research projects, most notably the project “Disease prestige and informal priority settings” and “Teddy-diaries, cross-cultural conceptions of childhood” which resulted in several important publications.
Haldar holds numerous distinguished positions and responsibilities, including as:
• Project manager of VIRTUAL PRESENCE, A cultural analysis of the emergence of 'telepresence technologies' as a solution to loneliness, funded by the Research Council of Norway
• Head of the interdisciplinary research group Welfare Access Through Technology (WATT)
• President of Norwegian Sociological Association.
• Chairman of Norwegian Sociological Journal
• Member of the Hans L. Zetterberg prize in Sociology committee – Sweden
• Winner of “The best researcher of the year 2019” at Oslo Metropolitan University
• Nominated as outstanding lecture by Morgenbladet (newspaper) (2016)
Field of study
Qualitative research Power Medical Sociology Gender Sociology of childhood Method of analysis Telecare
Research groups
Research projects
Completed research projects
-
Safe and Simple Point of Contact with Relatives
Research and innovation project with loneliness-reducing technology in elderly care in Oslo, where Nursing Home agency, City of Oslo (SYE) and No Isolation will adapt the consumer technology KOMP for use in institutions.
-
Virtual Presence: A Cultural Analysis of the Emergence of 'Telepresence Technologies' as a Solution to Loneliness
The research project will provide a cultural analysis of how loneliness is perceived and represented in relation to the emerging phenomenon of loneliness technologies
Publications and research
Scientific publications
Johannessen, Lars E. F.
;
Rasmussen, Erik Børve
;
Haldar, Marit
(2025).
Five Misconceptions About Interview Modes or: How to Improve Our Thinking About Face-to-Face Versus Remote Interviewing.
International Journal of Qualitative Methods (IJQM).
Vol. 24.
https://doi.org/10.1177/16094069251317808
Haldar, Marit
;
Bavngaard, Martin Vinther
; Nordtug, Maja; Røsvik, Kjersti
(2025).
Livsløpets barndom og alderdom.
Brodtkorb, Elisabeth; Rugkåsa, Marianne (Ed.).
Mellom mennesker og samfunn: sosiologi og sosialantropologi for helse- og sosialprofesjonene.
Gyldendal Norsk Forlag A/S.
https://hdl.handle.net/11250/4320428
Hughes, Gemma; Moore, Lucy; Hennessy, Megan; Sandset, Tony Joakim Ananiassen;
Jentoft, Elian Eve
;
Haldar, Marit
(2024).
What kind of a problem is loneliness? Representations of connectedness and participation from a study of telepresence technologies in the UK.
Frontiers in Digital Health.
Vol. 6.
https://doi.org/10.3389/fdgth.2024.1304085
Jentoft, Elian Eve
; Sandset, Tony Joakim Ananiassen;
Haldar, Marit
(2024).
Problematizing loneliness as a public health issue: an analysis of policy in the United Kingdom.
Critical Policy Studies.
https://doi.org/10.1080/19460171.2024.2306240
Nordtug, Maja;
Haldar, Marit
(2024).
The technology multiple: The robot avatar substituting for the ill body.
New Media & Society.
https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448241304658
Askheim, Clemet; Engebretsen, Eivind;
Haldar, Marit
(2024).
Living happily alone in Plato's cave? on loneliness, technology and the metaphysics of presence.
Medical Humanities.
https://doi.org/10.1136/medhum-2024-012965
Larsson, Karl Kristian;
Haldar, Marit
(2024).
Activation by technology: Young people’s use of digital tools provided by the government.
Journal of Comparative Social Work.
Vol. 19.
https://doi.org/10.31265/jcsw.v19i1.623
Jentoft, Elian Eve
;
Haldar, Marit
(2023).
Panacea or poison? Exploring the paradoxical problematizations of loneliness, technology and youth in Norwegian and UK policymaking.
International journal of sociology and social policy.
https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSSP-11-2022-0292
Johannessen, Lars E. F.
;
Rasmussen, Erik Børve
;
Haldar, Marit
(2023).
Educational purity and technological danger: understanding scepticism towards the use of telepresence robots in school.
British Journal of Sociology of Education.
Vol. 44.
https://doi.org/10.1080/01425692.2023.2203360
Johannessen, Lars E. F.
; Nordtug, Maja;
Haldar, Marit
(2023).
Multi-site domestication: taming technologies across multiple institutional settings.
Information, Communication & Society.
https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2023.2255644
