Research Methods and their
Internet Counterparts.
Survey
Interview
Ethnography
Surveys
Epistemological underpinnings
•
Objectivist: Aimed at capturing objectively
existing phenomena.
• Positivist: Emphasis on factual reality rather
than on experiences of reality.
• Questionnaires can be objective, replicated,
and causality can be drawn out of analysis.
Objectives of Surveys

Description: Attempt to make descriptive
assertions about a population of interest.
 Explanation: Attempt to prove or disprove an
explanatory assertion. This could involve
making links between variables (causal
inferences).
 Discovery: Attempt to reveal relationships that
are unknown to researchers.
Steps in Developing a Survey
Stating the research question
II. Defining the concepts in the research question
III. Operationalizing the concepts into measurable
variables.
IV. Specifying the independent (cause) and dependent
(effect) variables
V. Developing a causal hypothesis.
VI. Introducing other variables (antecedent/intervening)
VII. Revisiting causal connections
VIII. Drawing a causal model
I.
Data-Collection Techniques

Questionnaire









Non-standardized
Standardized
Semi-structured
Face-to-face (F2F) interviewing
F2F administering of paper questionnaire
Telephone interviewing
Mailing paper questionnaire
E-mail questionnaire
Web-based questionnaire
Types of Surveys
Cross-Sectional Surveys
 Longitudinal Surveys

Trend Studies
 Cohort Studies
 Panel Studies
 Variations

Questionnaire Design

Constructing valid, reliable, and
unbiased questions is necessary but not
sufficient for creating a good
questionnaire: how the questions are
organized and presented also deserves
careful consideration.
Tips for Design
What is the importance of the study
 Estimate of time
 Clear and orderly questionnaire
 Begin with relevant and easy questions

Measurement of Variables

Categorical variables that are made up of a
set of attributes that form a category


Numerical variables are used to represent
units as the numbers carry mathematical
value.


Nominal & Ordinal
Interval & Ratio
Measurement Error

Validity & Reliability
Sampling
Who is the target
group for the study?
This is called the
study population
Who in the target
group should be
surveyed?
How many people
should be surveyed?
This is called the
sample.
This is called the
sample size.
How should the people This is called the
to be surveyed by
sampling method.
selected?
Sampling Methods

Probability



Simple Random
Sampling
Stratified Sampling
Cluster Sampling

Non Probability


Quota Samples
Network / Snowball
Probability sampling: every element or unit in the
population has some likelihood, or a non-zero probability,
of being in the sample.
Strategies for Increasing User
Response Rates
• Create motivation
• Interest
• Reward
• Agency
• Reduce the cost to the respondent
•
•
Time
Effort
• Self-esteem
• Emotion
• Direct financial cost
• Establish trust
• The researcher-respondent relationship in the survey.
Web-Based Surveys: Advantages
Speed and volume of data collection
 Savings in costs
 Flexible design
 Data accuracy
 Access to research populations
 Anonymity
 Respondent acceptability

Web-Based Surveys: Disadvantages
Sample bias
 Measurement error
 Non-response bias
 Text-only alternative
 Length, response and drop-out rates
 Technical problems

E-mail Questionnaire

Advantages






Sent directly to respondent ensuring delivery to recipient.
Requires little preparation, so low cost.
Easy to design and answer.
Easy for respondent to return via email 'reply' button.
Few technical skills required.
Disadvantages






Questionnaire design usually simplistic.
Not attractive owing to limited design features.
Has to be quite short or get very low response rates.
Results must be hand-entered into a data base which increases
time, costs and data entry error.
Valid email addresses required for sampling purposes.
Anonymity of respondent may be jeopardized as email address
returned with questionnaire and so may respond in a more
socially desirable manner.
General Considerations
Recruitment approaches and issues
 Sampling approaches and issues
 Identity verification
 Ethical approaches and issues
 Samples:
http://www.createsurvey.com/demo.htm

Examples

Studying the Internet through surveys

The World Internet Project
http://www.worldinternetproject.net/

Studying social issues through Internet-based
surveys

The National Geographic Survey: James C. Witte, Lisa M.
Amoroso and Philip E. N. Howard, 2000; Research
Methodology: Method and Representation in Internet-Based
Survey Tools–Mobility, Community, and Cultural Identity in
Survey2000 Social Science Computer Review, 18; 179
Lab Activity



Form pairs
Go online
Activity 1:




Find an online survey and study its aims, questions and
format.
Fill out the survey (optional)
Prepare to report your experience to the class.
Activity 2:




Review the following materials (refer to the Surveys section of
the class website).
Examine the methodologies of the respective studies.
Record the main results.
Prepare to report to class: What kind of knowledge of the
Canadian Internet do these studies provide?
Qualitative Interview

Aims of the interview
 Types of interviews

According to the questionnaire





According to the mode of communication









F2F
E-mail
Phone
Internet-based
According to the main analytical focus


Standardized
Structured
Semi-structured
Narrative
Interview as topic
Interview as resource
Sampling
Recruitment
Conditions
Researcher- respondent relationship in the interview.
Internet-Based Interviews

Advantages








Savings of cost
Location, geography and travel
Equipment
Flexibility
Venue
Engagement in the online interview
Speed
Disadvantages






Distracted participants
Participant interest and motivation
Language use
Technological competence
Access
Identity verification
Internet-Based Interviews

Types





Asynchronous vs. synchronous interviews
Asynchronous interviews: Email
Asynchronous focus groups
Synchronous online interviews
Time in Internet-based interviews
Researcher-respondent relationship in Internetbased interviews





Designing the interview script;
Establishing respondent identity;
Rapport;
Language Use;
Combining Internet-Based and F2F
Interviews
Why?
 When?
 How?
 Transition from online to offline
researcher-respondent relationship
 What do we get from each kind of
interview?

Lab Activity: Internet Use in this Class





Split into pairs
Work individually to design a short interview
script and question guide regarding the other’s
Internet use.
E-mail them to your partner
Review the answers of your partner
Report to class what you did well and what not
so well. What did you learn about the other’s
Internet use?
Ethnography
What is ethnography?
 Main tenets of ethnography.
 How is the ‘ethno’ defined?
 How is the ‘graphy’ performed?
 Evolution of the concept of ethnography.
 Contemporary debates regarding
ethnography.

‘Virtual’ Ethnography

What are the objects of ‘virtual’ ethnography?






Virtual communities
Online networks
Online user cultures
Offline user cultures
Other
How do the approaches and techniques of the
virtual ethnographer change?
 What can we learn about the Internet through
virtual ethnography?
Steps in Virtual Ethnography







The ethnographer as: participant vs. observer
Entering the field
Negotiating access and acceptance
Finding ‘informants’
Observing the ‘natives’
Talking to the ‘natives’
Researcher-respondent relationship in virtual
ethnography.
 Writing the ethnography
 Validation issues
Content Analysis
Definition
Seeks to analyze texts in terms of the
presence and frequency of specific terms,
themes, concepts, etc.
Level of analysis
Macro
Key concerns
Keywords, categories, counting
Typical applications Studies of media content, political
documents, public speeches, ad campaigns,
etc.
Validity issues
- external
- internal
- Samples of representative texts
- Manifest vs. Latent content
- Inter-coder reliability
Web applications
Studying web sites, ‘web spheres’…
Discourse Analysis
Definition
Discourse is a group of statements which provide a
language of talking about - way of representing
– a particular kind of knowledge or topic.
Analyzes the way language works to organize
fields of knowledge and practice.
Level of analysis
Meso/Micro
Key concerns
Interpretative repertoires, themes, arguments,
variations, actors, rhetorical strategies, patterns
of association, silences
Typical applications
Media content, political communication, group
communication, discourses of different spheres…
Validity issues
- external
- internal
Theoretical generalization
Back up with evidence
Build a convincing discourse
Offer new perspectives
Reflexive approach
Conversation Analysis
Definition
Investigates utterances as objects which speakers use to get
things done in the course of their interactions with others.
Everyday realities are produced through talk. Tasks and
identities are locally accomplished in/through talk and
interaction. To uncover the richly layered organization of talk.
How social institutions are organized and produced in talk and
interaction. Studies the objective structures of interaction.
Level of analysis
Nano
Key concerns
Transcriptions, special symbols, sequences, turns, preference
organization
Typical
applications
Interaction & communication in different spheres of activity:
doctor-patient; teacher-students; married couples; parent-child
Validity issues
- external
- internal
Next turn validation.
Web applications
Chats; communities
Network analysis



Structural analysis of social networks
Relation – content, direction and strength
Tie – connects a pair of actors by one or more
relations
 Multiplexity
 Ego and whole networks





Range
Centrality-isolation
Stars, cut points, cliques
Density
Positions
Network analysis of blogs
Susan C. Herring, Inna Kouper, John C. Paolillo, Lois Ann Scheidt,
Michael Tyworth, Peter Welsch, Elijah Wright, and Ning Yu
(2005)