Online Social Research: Methods, Issues, and Ethics
(Digital
Formations Series, Vol. 7 – Steve Jones, Series Editor)
Edited by Mark D. Johns, Shing-Ling Sarina
Chen, and G. Jon Hall
has just been released by Peter
Lang Publishers, New York
©
2004 ISBN 0-8204-6101-6
Online Social Research: Methods, Issues, and Ethics is a collection of essays by veteran online researchers who provide testimonial illustrations as to how traditional research methods may be modified for effective online research as well as identify and discuss the critical issues and dilemmas encountered. The former serves as a resource for teachers, students, and researchers who utilize online environments for information gathering. The latter is designed to stimulate ongoing debates and creative ideas about an as yet nonregulated arena of research. Online Social Research addresses online research in the fields of communication, journalism, sociology, psychology, marketing, education, and medicine, as well as related disciplines that may have occasions to utilize surveys, interviews, and observations for information gathering in online environments. Since this book deals with methodological consideration, it is designed as a text for research methods classes as well as a resource for researchers.
Contents
Prologue:
Online Environments and Interpretive Social Research
Norman
K. Denzin, University of Illinois–Champaign-Urbana
Part I—Methods of Online Social Research
Introduction:
Technological Environments and the Evolution of Social Research Methods
Clifford
G. Christians, University of Illinois–Champaign-Urbana;
Shing-Ling Sarina
Chen, University of Northern Iowa
Reengineering
Focus Group Methodology for the Online Environment
Matthew
Williams, Cardiff University;
Kate Robson, University
of Wales College of Medicine
Researching
OURNET: A Case Study of a Multiple Methods Approach
Sharon
S. Kleinman, Quinnipiac University
Managing
Visibility, Intimacy, and Focus in Online Critical Ethnography
Kathleen
LeBesco, Marymount Manhattan College
“Seeing
and Sensing” Online Interaction: An Interpretive Interactionist
Approach to USENET Support Group Research
Mary
K. Walstrom, Sonoma State University
Part II—Issues of Online Social Research
Introduction:
Opportunities and Challenges in Methodology and Ethics
Amy
S. Bruckman, Georgia Tech
Surviving
the IRB Review: Institutional Guidelines and Research Strategies
Mark
D. Johns, Luther College;
G. Jon Hall, University
of Northern Iowa;
Tara Lynn Crowell,
Richard Stockton College
Participants
and Observers in Online Ethnography: Five Stories About Identity
Lori
Kendall, SUNY, Purchase
Representation
in Online Ethnographies: A Matter of Context Sensitivity
Annette
N. Markham, University of Illinois at Chicago
Research
Paparazzi in Cyberspace: The Voices of the Researched
Shing-Ling
Sarina Chen,
G. Jon Hall, University
of Northern Iowa;
Mark D. Johns,
Luther College
Part III—Ethics of Online Social Research
Introduction:
Ethics and Internet Studies
Steve
Jones, University of Illinois at Chicago
Reexamining
the Ethics of Internet Research: Facing the Challenge of Overzealous Oversight
Jim
Thomas, Northern Illinois University
Issues
of Attribution and Identification in Online Social Research
Susan
B. Barnes, Rochester Institute of Technology
“Electronic
Eavesdropping”: The Ethical Issues Involved in Conducting a Virtual
Ethnography
Katherine
M. Clegg Smith, University of Illinois at Chicago
“NEED
HELP ASAP!!!”: A Feminist Communitarian Approach to Online Research
Ethics
G.
Jon Hall, University of Northern Iowa;
Douglas Frederick, University
of Iowa;
Mark D. Johns, Luther
College
Epilogue:
Are We There Yet? Emerging Ethical Guidelines for Online Research
Charles
Ess, Drury University