Virtual Methods [Hardcover]

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.

Virtual Virtual Methods and the Sociology of Cyber-Social-Scientific Knowledge--Christine Hine * Research Relationships and Online Relationships * Introduction--Christine Hine * Internet Behavior and the Design of Virtual Methods--Adam Joinson * Online Interviewing and the Research Relationship--Jo?lle Kivits * From Online to Offline and Back: Moving from Online to Offline Relationships with Research Informants--Shani Orgad * Researching the Online Sex Work Community--Teela Sanders * Ethnographic Presence in a Nebulous Setting--Jason Rutter and Gregory W.H. Smith * Centering the Links: Understanding Cybernetic Patterns of Co-Production, Circulation and Consumption--Maximilian C. Forte * Research Sites and Strategies * Introduction--Christine Hine * The Role of Maps in Virtual Research Methods--Martin Dodge * New Connections, Familiar Settings: Issues in the Ethnographic Study of New Media Use at Home--Hugh Mackay * Doing Anthropology in Cyberspace: Fieldwork Boundariel³$