INTRODUCTION - A Guide to Conducting Online Research - page 7

This book is probably best used as a reference book. As noted previously, it
was not created to be read from cover to cover like a manual. It focuses first on
what questions to ask and how to prepare to conduct online research in the
study design process. The subsequent chapters are organized around particu-
lar types of technologies such as email, chat and databases. As we cover these
topics, there will be some discussion of specific products. We try to be current,
but software and the World Wide Web are very fast changing fields, and new
versions and entirely new products appear all the time, seemingly within the
time it takes to describe a particular product. The final chapter touches upon
some additional thoughts unique to research in the online environment, with
the suggestion that there are topics beyond the scope of this book that are
worth further consideration.
Cyberspace, the internet, the world
wide web and other definitions
We often hear a number of words bandied about regarding the online envi-
ronment. The three most prevalent are internet, cyberspace and World Wide
Web. While not knowing their specific meanings might have limited impact on
your research, it's possible you'll be more convincing as an online researcher if
you can articulate their differences.
Cyberspace was coined by the novelist William Gibson and used to reflect
the storage, modification and exchange of data. As noted in Wikipedia, it is
often used synonymously with the internet, but it is not. Cyberspace, more
accurately, reflects “objects and identities that exist largely within the commu-
nication network itself” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyberspace, accessed
on 21 August 2007). The internet , on the other hand, refers to a network of
networks through which the data of cyberspace are transmitted.
The World Wide Web , often referred to as 'the web', is a system of inter-
linked hypertext documents, the web sites and hot link references that reside
on the internet. Communication of many sorts (text, still and motion pictures,
sound) can be put on a web site, which is on a web server. One of the main
innovations of the web (and the reason for the name) was the use of embedded
hyperlinks from one document to another. The network of links between doc-
uments becomes the web. Web documents are viewed with a web browser. As
a form of communication, the web is more like a broadcast in that there is no
guarantee that the web site will be viewed by an intended recipient, or not
viewed by an unintended recipient.
It was originally true that communication by web site was one way - from
the author to the reader - but this is becoming less accurate as new web tech-
nologies allow for two-way exchanges. Web technologies have evolved from