Applied educational research in on-line and virtual environments – Methodology Workshop

1. Applied educational research in on-line and virtual environments – Methodology Workshop Susan Graves and Maggie Webster September 2015

2. Using Computer Mediated Communication • E-mail interviews and asynchronous on-line focus groups • Enabled extended contact with the participants • Enabled voices of those who couldn’t attend face to face for geographical or temporal reasons to be heard • Allowed grounded theory analysis to be used

3. Benefits • Offered opportunity for participants to re-visit previous responses and clarify points – use reflective dialogue (Brockbank & McGill, 1998) • Provided a rich, naturalistic, discursive narrative over time (Seymour, 2001) • Helped respondents reflect on their experiences and gave them opportunity to shape research questions (Mann & Stewart, 2000) • On-line focus groups allowed participants to share ideas and opinions with each other and to shift and develop over a period (Litosseliti, 2003)

4. Allowed a process of on-going analysis of data and for a constructivist grounded theory approach to be utilised (Charmaz, 2006) • Respondents have more control of interview process (Baym, 1995) • Overcame geographical, spacial and time constraints (Jones, 1999) • Respondents could participate when it suited them in a place they felt comfortable

5. Challenges • Lack of face-to-face dynamics, body language, spontaneity (Sade-Beck, 2004) • Self-editing of responses (Illingworth, 2001) • Using a managed site meant participants may have felt inhibited • Mis-communication of meaning of question • Needed a hook to attract participation • Transcription and analysis (James, 2007) • Previous relationship with participants important

6. Future • E-mail interviews -consider using in conjunction with f2f interviews • On-line focus groups – incentives to get involved, links to blogs or newspaper stories, use in conjunction with face-to-face focus groups, develop an ongoing forum Contact – Dr Susan Graves gravess@edgehill.ac.uk 01695 584849

7. Maggie Webster PhD Candidate (part time) University of Wales Trinity St David’s Senior Lecturer in education Edge Hill University Ormskirk maggie.webster@edgehill.ac.uk

8. Methodology Netnography(Kozinets R, 2010) ethnography that is online Methods • Participant observation of ritual and spaces • Public notices • Online interviews (James and Busher, 2009)

9. 1: Participant Observation

10. 1

11. 1

12. 1

13. 1

14. 1 06:27 SF: shall we bless the cauldron so that all who give & all who receive gain the experience of prosperity 06:28 SF: /me faces the cauldron w/her power hand raised & intones: This is the blessing of prosperity: Three-fold, seven-fold, nine-fold more All that you give to the cauldron Seed-time to harvest So shall you receive! draws Earth invoking pentagram to seal the spell

15. 1 06:22 G: Look at the mist that floats over the pool in front of you. See how it vibrate and shine with myriads of the most brilliant rainbow colors you ever saw. They are reflecting all the energy that charged them it with all the marvelous intentions and gratitude expressed by you today. Grab that energized mist that is flowing over the pool and carefully save it in your heart. now, using your Third Eye Chakra, see, in front of you, a marvelous Blue sphere that have the word PAX (PEACE) written on its surface with bright and shinning golden letters. Add to this sphere all the energy you collect and launch it up into the space, giving it a strong push to turn it deosil (clockwise). Watch as it goes up and up into heavens stretching itself into a cone that, when very high, in the space, EXPLODES like a roman candle. God and Goddesses will them gently receive all the energies that you sent and add to them their own love and energy, returning them back to you three times infused by their love. Keep the energy you need for the day and let the rest sink into the Earth. God and Goddesses will always walk at your side providing you support to your needs and desires. ☮So Mote it Be☮ 06:27 SF: ♥ So Mote It Be! ♥ 06:27 AF: /me is holding the vision 06:27 B: So Mote it be! Ritual – speech act (O’Leary)

16. 2: Public Messages

17. 10:49 CH: Thank you for sharing this. I am moved to tears 10:50 K: This museum is an amazing and meaningful sim. It has caused me to react vilely at the injustice and the affects it has done to innocent lives. I hope nothing like this ever happens again. No person deserves to perish in a world of injustice. • 10:57 AC: Thank you, for this very touching experience. • 10:58 PR: this is an amazing space. it kind of creeped me out. I studied this time during my degree but seeing this place... well... good work 2

18. 2 rules

19. 3: Online interviews • 07:58 Irene Inkpen: do you feel that the way SL looks helps? • 07:59 S: lol, ok the smart alec answer is: if we felt otherwise, we wouldn’t/couldn't hold rituals here, but we do so daily • 07:13 Irene Inkpen: do you feel that you could have the same sacred/spiritual experience on a different social website that had a chat room for instance but didn’t have a 3d avatar? • 07:15 C: perhaps not... seeing an avatar and walking in a virtual space that represents the world we are in, that represents the "tween space" I was talking about before, is a great help as with also special effects you can create here it helps the process of "visualization" needed for magic

20. 3: Online interviews • 06:06 A: So for me what is sacred is a place or a space where there is an awareness of the active presence and engagement of God • "Sacred" to me is defined as something that is connected with religious beliefs or practices. It is consecrated and regarded with reverence, has a history, and is considered untouchable. (email interview with R) • 13:09 Y: well without looking in wikipedia i will from my mind relate it to some kind of worship

21. Netnography • Sense of presence (Edringsingha et al 2009) • Removes geographical and time boundaries (James and Busher 2009) • Gain access to communities and praxis that you may not have considered • Transcription of data (Kozinets 2010) • Difficult to build trust (Boellstroff et al 2012) • Sense of research saturation – esp on SL • Identity issues (Mckee and Porter 2009) • ‘Lag’ - time delay (Salmons 2009) • Ethical implications Benefits Challenges

22. What are the ethical Implications to Researching Online ?

23. Salmons J (2012) Cases in Online Research London Sage The e-interview research framework for understanding e-interview research (p8)

24. Reference list • Boellstroff, Nardi, Pearce and Taylor (2012) Ethnography and Virtual worlds A handbook of method Princeton and Oxford, Princeton University press • Edrinsingha, Nie, Plucienick and Young., (2009) Socialisation for learning at a distance in a 3-D multi-user virtual environment, British Journal of Educational Technology, 40, 3, 458 – 479 • James and Busher (2009) Online Interviewing London, Sage • Kozinets J (2010) Netnography:Doing Ethnograophic Research Online London, Sage • Mckee and Porter (2009 The ethics of Internet research New York, Peter Lang • Salmons (2009) Cases in Online interview research London, Sage

25. Contact – Dr Susan Graves gravess@edgehill.ac.uk 01695 584849