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Internet Research Methods: A Canadian Perspective

This course, led by Dr. Norm Friesen and Dr. Maria Bakardjieva, aims to introduce students to various existing approaches in Internet research, focusing on Canadian perspectives. Spanning four sessions, the curriculum covers essential aspects such as theoretical, epistemological, and methodological issues in Internet studies, network neutrality, online discussion ethics, and qualitative versus quantitative approaches. Students will engage with critical analyses of digital phenomena and explore the intricacies of researching online communities, providing them with a comprehensive understanding of the Internet as a research object.

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Internet Research Methods: A Canadian Perspective

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  1. Internet Research Methods: A Canadian Perspective Dr. Norm Friesen & Dr. Maria Bakardjieva June 22, 2007

  2. Goals • To introduce students to existing approaches in Internet research combining theoretical, epistemological and methodological aspects and issues, • Emphasis on the ways that these have been studied by Canadian researchers.

  3. Schedule (1 of 4) • June 22: • Introductions • Course overview • Introducing the Internet through network neutrality • Blog access • Web analytics as Internet research (server activity) • New Web Technologies • Qualitative vs. Quantitative research

  4. Schedule (2 of 4) June 23: • Review; technical questions & answers • Online discussion in Canadian research • Critique: "Digital Diploma mills" • Genre as a way of studying Internet comm. • Internet Myths • Critical theory • Discursive analysis

  5. Schedule (3 of 4) June 29: • Review of main principles of social research: • The research process • Paradigms in social theory • Methodology and methods • The Internet as an object of research: • Choosing a theoretical approach • delimiting the research object; • asking research questions • choosing a methodology • designing a study

  6. Schedule (4 of 4) June 30: • Research methods and their Internet counterparts. The researcher-respondent relationship on the Internet. • Virtual communities and their ethnographies: principles and examples • The ethics of ‘virtual’ research. • Network Analysis:  principles and examples • Studying Internet Users • Studying the Internet in everyday life

  7. Readings (1 of 2) • Hine, C. (2005). The Virtual Objects of Ethnography. In Hine, C. (Ed.) Virtual Method: Issues in Social Research on the Internet. Oxford: Berg.  • Kivits, J. (2005). Online interviewing and the research relationship. In Hine, C. (Ed.) Virtual Method: Issues in Social Research on the Internet. Oxford: Berg. • Mackay, H. (2005). New connections, familiar settings: issues in the ethnographic study of new media use at home. In Hine, C. (Ed.) Virtual Method: Issues in Social Research on the Internet. Oxford: Berg.

  8. Readings (2 of 2) • Rutter, J. & Smith, G. W. H. (2005). Ethnographic presence in a nebulous setting. In Hine, C. (Ed.) Virtual Method: Issues in Social Research on the Internet. Oxford: Berg. • Schneider, S. M. (2005). Web sphere analysis: an approach to studying online action. In Hine, C. (Ed.) Virtual Method: Issues in Social Research on the Internet. Oxford: Berg. • Orgad, S. (2005). From online to offline and back: moving from online to offline relationships with research informants. In Hine, C. (Ed.) Virtual Method: Issues in Social Research on the Internet. Oxford: Berg.

  9. Recommended Readings (1 of 3) • Bakardjieva, M. (2005). Researching the Internet at Home. Chapter 3 from: Bakardjieva, M., Internet Society: The Internet in Everyday Life. London: Sage. • Bakardjieva, M. (2003). Virtual togetherness: an everyday-life perspective. New Media & Society. 25:3; 291–313. • Ess, M. (2002). Introduction. Ethics and Information Technology 4: 177–188, 2002.

  10. Recommended Readings (2 of 3) • Garton, L., Haythornthwaite, C. & Wellman, B. (1998). Studying On-line Social Networks. In Jones, S. Doing Internet Research: Critical Methods and Issues for Studying the Net. London: Sage. • Hurrell, C. (2006, January 10). Civility in Online Discussion: The Case of the Foreign Policy Dialogue. Canadian Journal of Communication [Online], 30(4). Available: http://www.cjc-online.ca/viewarticle.php?id=1529.

  11. Recommended Readings (3 of 3) • Markham, A. N. (2004) "The Internet as Research Context" in Qualitative Research Practice, (Seale, C., J. F. Gubrium, D. Silverman and G. Gobo eds) Sage Publications, London ; Thousand Oaks, Calif., pp. xix, 620 p. http://faculty.uvi.edu/users/amarkha/writing/Seale.htm • Stern, S.R. (2003). Encountering distressing information in online research: a consideration of legal and ethical responsibilities. New Media & Society. 5(2):249–266 • Wittel, A. (2000) Ethnography on the Move: From Field to Net to Internet. Forum: Qualitative Social Research Volume 1, No. 1 – 2000, January. In English:http://www.qualitative-research.net/fqs-texte/1-00/1-00wittel-e.htm Auf Deutsch(!): http://www.qualitative-research.net/fqs-texte/1-00/1-00wittel-d.htm

  12. Canadian Context & Internet Studies: Emphases • Emphasis on: • Bridging geographical distances • Federal & provincial government support for this • Strong connections between research and economy; pragmatic • Emphasis on politics, suspicion of American dominance

  13. Canadian Perspective

  14. Canada Size: 9,984,670 km² Persons per km²: 3.3 Austria Size: 83,871 km² Persons per km²:97 Canadian Context: Geography

  15. CANARIE • CA*net 4: optical Internet research and education network. • interconnect various provincial research networks, and through them universities, research centres, government research laboratories, schools, and other

  16. CA*net4 A a

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