Social researchers can hardly afford to ignore the Internet, as it has become an intrinsic part of everyday life. This new site of social interactions is begging to be researched and explored. At the same time it can be a moral minefield and a quality control nightmare even for researchers skilled in established methods. Virtual Methods offers a detailed exploration of the problems and opportunities surrounding Internet-based research. Can offline and online observations be combined? Are online interviews able to produce high quality data? How does a researcher sort through the vast mass of material available? From hyperlink analysis to the sex industry online, case studies sensitively highlight the difficulties researchers face, point out the opportunities to be seized, and offer practical solutions. Virtual Methods provides concrete advice for all stages of the research process. Anyone planning a research project involving the Internet will find this book an essential guide.
Inhaltsverzeichnis
1. Virtual methods and the sociology of cyber-social-scientific knowledge
Christine Hine, University of Surrey
Part 1 Research Relationships and Online Relationships
Introduction
Christine Hine, University of Surrey
2. Internet behaviour and the design of virtual methods
Adam Joinson, The Open University, UK
3. Online interviewing and the research relationship
Jolle Kivits, London School of Economics and Political Science
4. From online to offline and back: moving from online to offline relationships with research informants
Shani Orgad, London School of Economics and Political Svience
5. Researching the online sex work community
Teela Sanders, University of Leeds
6. Ethnographic presence in a nebulous setting
Jason Rutter, University of Manchester Gregory W. H. Smith, University of Salford
7. Centring the links: understanding cybernetic patterns of co-production, circulation and consumption
Maximilian C. Forte, University College of Cape Breton
Part II Research Sites and Strategies
Introduction
Christine Hine, University of Surrey
8. The role of maps in virtual research methods
Martin Dodge, University College London
9. New connections, familiar settings: issues in the ethnographic study of new media use at home
Hugh Mackay, The Open University, UK
10. Doing anthropology in cyberspace: fieldwork boundaries and social environments
Mario J. L. Guimares Jr. , Brunel University
11. Web sphere analysis: an approach to studying online action
Steven M. Schneider, SUNY Institute of Technology Kirsten A. Foot, University of Washington, USA
12. The network approach to Web hyperlink research and its utility for science communication
Han Woo Park, YeungNam University, S. Korea Mike Thelwall, University of Wolverhampton
13. Sociable hyperlinks: an ethnographic approach to connectivity
Anne Beaulieu, Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Science, Amsterdam
14. Epilogue: methodological concerns and innovations in Internet research
Nicholas Jankowski, University of Nijmegen Martine van Selm, University of Nijmegen
