RESEARCHING

ONLINE
METHODS
By Massa Joshua - 2020218
Some examples of these methods

Surveys

Interviews and Journal Methods

Focus Groups

Social Network Analysis

Categorization of online research methods

-Quantitative research; use of large data sets to answer the research

question.
-Qualitative research; analysing not so large a data set but, well enough
-Mixed approach; borrowing elements from both qualitative and
quantitative approaches.
All categories have no neat division as each has its own set of costs and
benefits. It is possible to match any category to an interest.
Factors that determine the choice of method

- The research focus and research questions.

- Type of data that is needed to answer the research question.
- The level of analysis that the researcher intends to use.
Surveys
- Suitable when there is a range of questions about the online communities that need to be answered.

- They can used to provide an initial overview of the area of the online community to be studied.

- They can be used to confirm particular understandings.

- Are referred to as Online Survey when implemented by use of web pages.

- when used to study online cultures

- when used to study other topics by using online communities.

-Examples of websites that can be used: SurveyMonkey.com, Surveywiz.com, SurveyPro.com,

SurveySaid.com, Zoomerang.com, WebSurveyor.com

-Mainly popular because of its cost efficiency when compared to traditional methods.
Online surveys are suitable when there is need
to;

- Draw conclusions that are representative of a particular population.

- study changing patterns in online community usage
- Study expressed attitudes about online communities
- Gain correlation between online community participation and various
demographics

Some Examples of research questions that data from surveys can help to
answer:

- What are the most popular online communities in a population?

- Which gender participates more in online communities?
- Which age group participates more in online communities?
Limitations of Surveys:

- Studying online communities about which little was previously unknown.

- Studying a topic about which the researcher knows little about and
hence can’t come up with the right questions to ask.
- Understanding what people actually did or said on an online community
in the past.
- Gaining a deeper understanding of another person’s point of view in an
online community.
Interviews and Journal Methods.

-An interview is a conversation consisting a set of questions and answers between 2 people who agreed
prior to the it that one will be questioner and the other the answerer.

- Referred to as online interview when done with help of a technology apparatus or as face-to-face
otherwise.

- Considered by some authors to be of less value because of the absence of individual identifiers and body
language.

Types of Interview( choice of which one to use depends on the required data):

- It can be an in-depth one or otherwise.

Interviews and Journal methods are suitable
for:

- Bringing in a detailed understanding of a lived experience in an online community by

a member.
- Understanding a particular person’s own unique social-cultural situation and their
online activity.
- Detailed perspective of a member of an online community.
- Hear people’s recollections of a past event.
Examples of research questions that can be answered by use of this method.
- How do people relate to the information that they learn from online communities.
- How do people use their online connections to moderate their emotional states
throughout the day.
Limitations of Interviews and Journal
Methods.

- Draw conclusions that represent a particular population.

- Draw conclusions that can be generalized to other populations.
- Understand the casual relations between events.
Focus Groups

- Can be understood as interviews that are conducted in a group format.

- They are mainly popular because their cost effectiveness since large
amounts of data can be collected in a short period of time.
- They are referred to as online Focus groups when conducted with the help
technology.
- When conducted online, the moderator has more flexibility and there are
less chances of one individual dominating the session.
- Tools used to collect data can be asynchronous(one topic at a time) or
synchronous.
-
Advantages and disadvantages of online focus
groups.

Advantages of online focus groups:

- Data is collected more quickly

- Can be used to understand inter-relation between online communities and social groups.

Disadvantages of Online focus groups:

- chat room fatigue

- harder to enforce full participation
- requires technology literate participants.
Social Network Analysis

- Studies the topic at hand by using analysing the relationships between the social
actors in a network.
- A social network could any group of people connected by social relations.
- The analysis can be broken down into the following units: nodes(social actors),
ties(relationships between the actors)
- Generalized examples of ties:
● Economic transactions.
● Shared affiliations
● Transfer of resources