Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
www.derby.ac.uk/iCeGS
Overview
A digital
context?
What is online
research?
Understanding
online data
Interrogating
existing data
Collecting
new data
www.derby.ac.uk/iCeGS
Overview
A digital
context?
What is online
research?
Understanding
online data
Interrogating
existing data
Collecting
new data
www.derby.ac.uk/iCeGS
www.derby.ac.uk/iCeGS
Blended living
www.derby.ac.uk/iCeGS
Onsite research
Place
Reality
Learning
www.derby.ac.uk/iCeGS
Overview
A digital
context?
What is online
research?
Understanding
online data
Interrogating
existing data
Collecting
new data
www.derby.ac.uk/iCeGS
www.derby.ac.uk/iCeGS
Limitations
Online methods may only reach a portion of the target
population (i.e. those with access to the internet).
Ethical issues regarding data protection and informed
consent.
Understanding the range of tools, environments and
online cultures is a precursor to successful research.
The pace of technological change.
Increased blurring of the online and offline environments
creates a need for new composite methodologies
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Ethics
The six guiding principles of the Association of Internet Researchers (AoIR) are:
1. The greater the vulnerability of the individual or group, the greater the
obligation to protect the individual or group;
2. Decision-making should be practical and applied to the specific context;
3. Digital information at some point has involved human subjects and the
principles guiding research on human subjects apply;
4. Understanding the balance of the rights of the individual with the potential
social benefits of the research;
5. Ethical issues may occur at any time during the research and must be
addressed as they arise; and
6. The ethical process in research is an explicit and deliberate process.
www.derby.ac.uk/iCeGS
Overview
A digital
context?
What is online
research?
Understanding
online data
Interrogating
existing data
Collecting
new data
www.derby.ac.uk/iCeGS
www.derby.ac.uk/iCeGS
Interrogating
existing data
Fieldwork
Data mining
Collecting new
data
Surveys
Interviews
Focus groups
Experiments
www.derby.ac.uk/iCeGS
Overview
A digital
context?
What is online
research?
Understanding
online data
Interrogating
existing data
Collecting
new data
www.derby.ac.uk/iCeGS
Fieldwork
Face-to-face fieldwork
resituated in an online
environment to investigate
issues pertaining to online
subcultures.
Participation in email lists
Observe discussions
Engage in video
exchanges
Examine chat records
Observe user behaviour
www.derby.ac.uk/iCeGS
https://sites.google.com/site/wianetnography/home
http://webheadsinaction.org/
https://www.edu-nation.net/
www.derby.ac.uk/iCeGS
Research data
(e.g. http://www.data-archive.ac.uk)
Administrative (and clinical) data
User generated data
Intervention interactions
http://blog.jeffdouglas.com/2013/01/16/force-com-streaming-apiwith-ruby/
www.derby.ac.uk/iCeGS
Overview
A digital
context?
What is online
research?
Understanding
online data
Interrogating
existing data
Collecting
new data
www.derby.ac.uk/iCeGS
Surveys
Advantages
Challenges
Technical issues
Flexible design
Ethical implications
Data accuracy
Recruitment
Anonymity
Response rates
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Usability
Accessibility
Doability
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www.derby.ac.uk/iCeGS
Surveymonkey (http://surveymonkey.com )
Limesurvey (https://www.limesurvey.org/en/ )
Google forms (https://www.google.co.uk/forms/about/ )
Snap surveys (http://www.snapsurveys.com/ )
Qualtrics (http://www.qualtrics.com/)
To name a few
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Disadvantages
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Experiments
Experiments create artificial environments within which
human behaviour can be observed. They are not used
very much in education but are more common in
psychology and economics.
It is possible to move experiments online.
Crowdsourcing platforms may have the capability to
overcome recruitment issues but challenges remain due
to lack of researcher control of variables in online
environments.
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References
Busher, H., & James, N. (2012). In cyberspace: qualitative methods for educational research.
Handbook of Qualitative Research in Education, 223.
Converse P. D., Wolfe E. W., Huang X. and Oswald F. L., (2008), Response Rates for Mixed-Mode
Surveys Using Mail and E-mail/Web, American Journal of Evaluation, 29 (1): 99107.
Couper, M. P. (2008), Designing Effective Web Surveys, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Dillman, D.A. Smyth, J.D. and Christian, L.M. (2009). Internet, Mail, and Mixed-mode Surveys: The
Tailored Design Method. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
Driscoll, C. and Gregg, M. (2010), My profile: The ethics of virtual ethnography, Emotion, Space and
Society, 3(1): 1520.
Fielding, N., Lee, R.M., & Blank, G. (2008). The SAGE Handbook of Online Research Methods.
London: SAGE.
Hine, C. (Ed.) (2005). Virtual methods: Issues in Social Research on the Internet. Oxford: Berg.
Ioannidis, J.P. (2013). Informed consent, big data, and the oxymoron of research that is not research.
American Journal of Bioethics, 13(4): 40 42.
James, N., & Busher, H. (2015). Ethical issues in online research. Educational Research and
Evaluation, 21(2), 89-94.
Markham, A. and Buchanan, E. (2012). Ethical decisionmaking and internet research:
recommendations from the AoIR ethics working committee. Available from:
http://aoir.org/reports/ethics2.pdf [Accessed 29 April 2015].
www.derby.ac.uk/iCeGS
Our research
Cann, A., Dimitriou, K. & Hooley, T. (2011). Social Media: A Guide for Researchers. London:
Research Information Network.
Hooley, T. & Dodd, V. (Forthcoming 2016). Online Research Methods for Mental Health. In
Anthony, K, Mertz Nagel, D and Goss, S (eds.) The Use of Technology In Mental Health:
Applications, Ethics and Practice. Springfield: Charles C Thomas. Second edition.
Hooley, T., Marriott, J. & Wellens, J. (2012). What is Online Research?: Using the Internet for
Social Science Research. London: Bloomsbury Academic.
Hooley, T. & Weller, P. (Forthcoming 2015). In Cheruvalil-Contractor, S. & Shakkour, S. Digital
Methodologies in the Study of Religion. London: Bloomsbury.
Hooley, T., Wellens, J., Madge, C. & Goss S. (2010). Online Research Methods for Mental Health.
In Anthony, K, Mertz Nagel, D and Goss, S (eds.) The Use of Technology In Mental Health:
Applications, Ethics and Practice. Springfield: Charles C Thomas.
Madge, C., O'Connor, H., Wellens, J., Hooley, T. & Shaw, R. (2006).
Exploring online research methods, incorporating TRI-ORM; an online research methods training
programme for the social science community
.
www.derby.ac.uk/iCeGS
About us
Tristram Hooley
Professor of Career Education
International Centre for Guidance
Studies
t.hooley@derby.ac.uk
Vanessa Dodd
Research Assistant
International Centre for Guidance
Studies
v.dodd@derby.ac.uk
Blog:
https://adventuresincareerdevelopmen
t.wordpress.com
/
Twitter: @pigironjoe
www.derby.ac.uk/iCeGS
In conclusion
Online research methods offer powerful tools for
education researchers.
However, they need to be used carefully with a
recognition of the issues that they can pose for ethics,
sampling and managing their implementation.
They offer the opportunity both to analyse existing data
and to collect new data.
It is increasingly possible to blend online and onsite
research together.
www.derby.ac.uk/iCeGS