What is online research?: using the internet for social science research

The massive expansion of the internet into every aspect of our lives creates a challenge for social researchers: can they simply transfer their traditional methods and techniques online or do they need to reinvent research methods for the new environment? As online research becomes increasingly prevalent it becomes more important for researchers to have an answer to these questions and an approach to conducting research online. This book is a straightforward, accessible introduction to social research online. It covers the key issues and concerns for social scientists: online surveys, focus gr

Cover; Contents; Series foreword; Acknowledgements; 1 Introduction; Further reading; 2 A brief history of online research methods; The growth of the internet; Researching online and online methods; Online research methods as a field; The growth of online surveys; Exploring the potential for online qualitative research; Doing fieldwork without a field; Beginning to experiment online; In summary; Further reading; 3 Dealing with ethical issues in online research; Ethics in social science research; Ethics in online research; Privacy; Informed consent; Anonymity and confidentiality; Legal issues

Participant vulnerabilityIn summary; Further reading; 4 Online surveys; Survey design; When to use an online survey?; Online surveys and instrument design; Choosing a tool to deliver the survey; Sampling and recruitment; Improve response rates: a checklist (Madge et al.); In summary; Further reading; 5 Online interviews and focus groups; Understanding qualitative methods; When to use online methods for qualitative research?; Choosing tools for online interviewing and focus groups; Synchronous or asynchronous?; Text-based or multi-media; Other issues in selecting tools

Managing online interviews and focus groupsSampling and recruitment; Building rapport; Dealing with problems; Analysis; In summary; Further reading; 6 Online ethnographies; Ethnographic methods; Choosing a fieldwork site; Gaining access; Data collection; Archival data; Elicited data; Fieldnote data; Analysis and presentation of ethnographies; In summary; Further reading; 7 Online experiments; Experimental methods in the social sciences; Advantages and disadvantages of experimenting online; Deciding when an online experiment is appropriate; Types of online experiment; Designing experiments

Experimental contextConsidering what tools to use; Managing recruitment and avoiding dropout; In summary; Further reading; 8 Where next for online methods?; A changing context for online research methods; Visualizing naturally occurring data; Combining data; The diverse and integrated internet; Allowing participants to really participate; In summary; Further reading; Glossary; Bibliography; Index; A; B; C; D; E; F; G; H; I; L; M; N; O; P; Q; R; S; T; U; V; W