Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
10
EMERGING
RESEARCH
OPPORTUNITIES
Chapter summary
•
Socialnetworkanalysisoffersnewopportunitiesforvisualizingrelationships.
•
Virtual worlds offer new opportunities for observing human behavior.
•
Onlinegamingcanproviderichdatabyengagingparticipantsinsimulations.
There are some technologies and online research techniques that are not preva-
lent, but demonstrate the ways in which online research is evolving and the ways
in which technologies can provide new opportunities. The following examples of
social network analysis, observation in virtual worlds and gaming all represent
ways in which online research is maturing and providing new opportunities
for researchers. The purpose of this chapter is to provide you with a general
overview, as opposed to providing you with “how to” instructions. While the
information offered is limited, we have attempted to provide sufficient informa-
tion to enable those interested in venturing further to acquire a vision of how to
pursue these emerging opportunities and links.
Social network analysis
A somewhat different type of data is used to analyze social networks. The goal of
social network analysis is to determine the connectedness and clustering, among
other properties, of individuals in a community. “Social network analysis seeks to
describe networks of relations as fully as possible, tease out the prominent pat-
terns in such networks, trace the flow of information (and other resources)
through them, and discover what effects these relations and networks have on
people and organizations” (Garton, Haythornthwait & Wellman, 1999: 76). The
data may take many forms, but require some way to show that one item is, or is
not, connected to another; sometimes this takes the form of a matrix. The analyst
considers all of the connections and attempts to group and arrange them in mean-
ingful ways. Content, direction and strength are the ways in which relationships
are described.
