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Researching on the Net: Opportunities, Challenges, and Ethics

This presentation explores the unique aspects of conducting research online, including boundaries, scale, privacy, and the ethical considerations involved. It also discusses the technical characteristics of the internet and their impact on qualitative research practices.

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Researching on the Net: Opportunities, Challenges, and Ethics

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  1. Going Online Opportunities, Challenges and Ethics in Internet Research

  2. Cartoon by Peter Steiner. The New Yorker, July 5, 1993 issue [Vol.69 no. 20] page 61 What’s so different about researching on The Net? CMNS801 Research Methods Presentation by Mike Stanger: Mar 18, 2009

  3. Boundaries, scale & situatedness • Collecting and interpreting data • Privacy • Identit(y)(ies), Gender, Sexuality • Time, space and culture A framework… CMNS801 Research Methods Presentation by Mike Stanger: Mar 18, 2009

  4. http://www.clinicplus.com.my/images/clinic%20network%20diagram.jpghttp://www.clinicplus.com.my/images/clinic%20network%20diagram.jpg Boundaries and Scale CMNS801 Research Methods Presentation by Mike Stanger: Mar 18, 2009

  5. The Internet is really really big and messy Image http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/files/imagecache/news/files/200706119_internettopology.jpg Generated by Yuval Shavitt using Lanet-vi. Lanet-vi generates this graph using models based on research found in: Alvarez-Hamelin, J., & Schabanel, N. (2004, March 15). An internet graph model based on trade-off optimization. European Physical Journal B -- Condensed Matter, 38(2), 231-237. Retrieved March 17, 2009, doi:10.1140/epjb/e2004-00116-y So what is the problem? CMNS801 Research Methods Presentation by Mike Stanger: Mar 18, 2009

  6. Qualitative research is: … a situated activity that locates the observer in the world. It consists of a set of interpretive, material practices that make the world visible … This means that qualitative researchers study things in their natural settings, attempting to make sense of or interpret phenomena in terms of the meanings people bring to them… Denzin and Lincoln, quoted in Maczewski, et al (2004, p. 63) What is Internet qualitative research? CMNS801 Research Methods Presentation by Mike Stanger: Mar 18, 2009

  7. Onground Online ResearchEthics Technical Situating qualitative research online CMNS801 Research Methods Presentation by Mike Stanger: Mar 18, 2009

  8. How are the technical characteristics of the internet enabling research interactions? • What are the human and social implications of using this new medium? • How do technical characteristics of the internet influence qualitative research? • What social and ethical implications do internet mediated forms of human and social interactions have on qualitative research practices, specifically researcher-participant relationship Examining the technical sphere CMNS801 Research Methods Presentation by Mike Stanger: Mar 18, 2009

  9. Collecting and Interpreting Data CMNS801 Research Methods Presentation by Mike Stanger: Mar 18, 2009

  10. Difficult to perform an ethnography in “hypermedia” organizations • attempts to capture rich detail in interactions may be hindered when organizations “operate over great distance and through new media” (p. 2) • Uses Social Network Analysis to justify case selection for ethnographic research • Suggests the term “Network Ethnography” Howard: Hypermedia Organizations CMNS801 Research Methods Presentation by Mike Stanger: Mar 18, 2009

  11. Invisibility of • Data records and logs as sources • Algorithms • Storage of data and contractual privacy concerns Considering Data CMNS801 Research Methods Presentation by Mike Stanger: Mar 18, 2009

  12. Image from: Reporters without borders http://www.rsf.org Considering Reach CMNS801 Research Methods Presentation by Mike Stanger: Mar 18, 2009

  13. Law model • Asymmetrical power relationship between the researcher and participant • The researcher is considered the expert in the relationship and is assumed to be working in the best interests of participants Researcher-Participant Relationships CMNS801 Research Methods Presentation by Mike Stanger: Mar 18, 2009

  14. Sociological & Collaborative models • Communal endeavor • Reciprocity of rights and duties • Equal status of researcher and participant • Common goals • Some expectation of ‘gain’ by the participant just as there is ‘gain’ for the researcher Researcher-Participant Relationships CMNS801 Research Methods Presentation by Mike Stanger: Mar 18, 2009

  15. Change in focus: • Central ethical issue is the “extent to which participants’ interests are recognized and addressed by the goals and techniques of the research” (p. 343) • Engage participants with a form of PAR: negotiating the progress and goals of research to be inline with participants’ User-Centered Internet Research CMNS801 Research Methods Presentation by Mike Stanger: Mar 18, 2009

  16. Consider how the end-user interacts with the data: • Transcripts may be maintained by participants • Who owns the content or determines how it might be used? Data use and ownership CMNS801 Research Methods Presentation by Mike Stanger: Mar 18, 2009

  17. Addresses: • Lack of or reversal of the ‘competence gap’ in internet research • Concerns stated by internet users about the appropriation of their online products by researchers User-Centered Internet Research CMNS801 Research Methods Presentation by Mike Stanger: Mar 18, 2009

  18. Bakardjieva, M., Feenberg, A., and Goldie J. (2004). User-CenteredInternet Research:The Ethical Challenge.” In Elizabeth A. Buchanan (Ed.), Readings in virtual research ethics : issues and controversies (Ch. XVIII). Hershey, PA : Information Science Pub. • Marczewski, M., Storey, M.A., Hoskins, M. (2004). ConductingCongruent, Ethical,Qualitative Researchin Internet-MediatedResearch Environments In Elizabeth A. Buchanan (Ed.), Readings in virtual research ethics : issues and controversies (Ch. IV). Hershey, PA : Information Science Pub. • Ess, C and the AoIR ethics working committee (2002). Ethical decision-making and Internet research: Recommendations from the aoir ethics working committee. Available online:http://www.aoir.org/reports/ethics.pdf • Howard, P. (2002). Ethnography and the Hypermedia Organization: New Media, New Organizations, New Methods. New Media and Society, 4:550. DOI: 10.1177/146144402321466813. Available online: http://nms.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/4/4/550 • Baym, N. (2009). What Constitutes Quality in Qualitative Internet Research? In N. Baym and A. Markham (Eds.), Internet Inquiry: conversations about method (pp. 173-189). Los Angeles : Sage Publications References CMNS801 Research Methods Presentation by Mike Stanger: Mar 18, 2009

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