Internet Research Methods: A Canadian Perspective

Dr. Norm Friesen & Dr. Maria Bakardjieva

June 22, 2007

Goals

• To introduce students to existing approaches in Internet research combining theoretical, epistemological and methodological aspects and issues,

• Emphasis on the ways that these have been studied by Canadian researchers.

Schedule (1 of 4)• June 22:

– Introductions– Course overview – Introducing the Internet through network

neutrality– Blog access– Web analytics as Internet research (server

activity)– New Web Technologies– Qualitative vs. Quantitative research

Schedule (2 of 4)

June 23:– Review; technical questions & answers– Online discussion in Canadian research– Critique: "Digital Diploma mills"– Genre as a way of studying Internet comm.– Internet Myths– Critical theory– Discursive analysis

Schedule (3 of 4)

June 29:• Review of main principles of social research:

– The research process – Paradigms in social theory – Methodology and methods

• The Internet as an object of research: – Choosing a theoretical approach – delimiting the research object; – asking research questions – choosing a methodology – designing a study

Schedule (4 of 4)

June 30: • Research methods and their Internet counterparts.

The researcher-respondent relationship on the Internet.

• Virtual communities and their ethnographies: principles and examples

• The ethics of ‘virtual’ research. • Network Analysis:  principles and examples • Studying Internet Users • Studying the Internet in everyday life

Readings (1 of 2)

• Hine, C. (2005). The Virtual Objects of Ethnography. In Hine, C. (Ed.) Virtual Method: Issues in Social Research on the Internet. Oxford: Berg. 

• Kivits, J. (2005). Online interviewing and the research relationship. In Hine, C. (Ed.) Virtual Method: Issues in Social Research on the Internet. Oxford: Berg. 

• Mackay, H. (2005). New connections, familiar settings: issues in the ethnographic study of new media use at home. In Hine, C. (Ed.) Virtual Method: Issues in Social Research on the Internet. Oxford: Berg. 

Readings (2 of 2)

• Rutter, J. & Smith, G. W. H. (2005). Ethnographic presence in a nebulous setting. In Hine, C. (Ed.) Virtual Method: Issues in Social Research on the Internet. Oxford: Berg. 

• Schneider, S. M. (2005). Web sphere analysis: an approach to studying online action. In Hine, C. (Ed.) Virtual Method: Issues in Social Research on the Internet. Oxford: Berg.

• Orgad, S. (2005). From online to offline and back: moving from online to offline relationships with research informants. In Hine, C. (Ed.) Virtual Method: Issues in Social Research on the Internet. Oxford: Berg.

Recommended Readings (1 of 3)

• Bakardjieva, M. (2005). Researching the Internet at Home. Chapter 3 from: Bakardjieva, M., Internet Society: The Internet in Everyday Life. London: Sage. 

• Bakardjieva, M. (2003). Virtual togetherness: an everyday-life perspective. New Media & Society. 25:3; 291–313. 

• Ess, M. (2002). Introduction. Ethics and Information Technology 4: 177–188, 2002.

Recommended Readings (2 of 3)

• Garton, L., Haythornthwaite, C. & Wellman, B. (1998). Studying On-line Social Networks. In Jones, S. Doing Internet Research: Critical Methods and Issues for Studying the Net. London: Sage. 

• Hurrell, C. (2006, January 10). Civility in Online Discussion: The Case of the Foreign Policy Dialogue. Canadian Journal of Communication [Online], 30(4). Available: http://www.cjc-online.ca/viewarticle.php?id=1529.

Recommended Readings (3 of 3)

• Markham, A. N. (2004) "The Internet as Research Context" in Qualitative Research Practice, (Seale, C., J. F. Gubrium, D. Silverman and G. Gobo eds) Sage Publications, London ; Thousand Oaks, Calif., pp. xix, 620 p. http://faculty.uvi.edu/users/amarkha/writing/Seale.htm

• Stern, S.R. (2003). Encountering distressing information in online research: a consideration of legal and ethical responsibilities. New Media & Society. 5(2):249–266

• Wittel, A. (2000) Ethnography on the Move: From Field to Net to Internet. Forum: Qualitative Social Research Volume 1, No. 1 – 2000, January. In English:http://www.qualitative-research.net/fqs-texte/1-00/1-00wittel-e.htm Auf Deutsch(!): http://www.qualitative-research.net/fqs-texte/1-00/1-00wittel-d.htm

Canadian Context & Internet Studies: Emphases

• Emphasis on: – Bridging geographical distances– Federal & provincial government support

for this– Strong connections between research and

economy; pragmatic– Emphasis on politics, suspicion of

American dominance

Canadian Perspective

Canadian Context: Geography

Canada

• Size: 9,984,670 km²

• Persons per km²: 3.3

Austria

• Size: 83,871 km²

• Persons per km²:97

CANARIE

• CA*net 4: optical Internet research and education network.

• interconnect various provincial research networks, and through them universities, research centres, government research laboratories, schools, and other

CA*net4

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