Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
As you begin to formulate your study, it's useful to keep a few general
thoughts in mind. Online it is tempting for people to think they are playing
a game; many people interact online as a form of entertainment. As Busiel
and Maeglin (1998) point out, it's easy to lose sight of your purpose. They
also note that it's easy to get lost in a vast amount of information. The inter-
net has massive stores of data which grow incrementally each day. It's easy
to become overwhelmed or simply to use the first thing you find, whether or
not it's the best resource for your particular purposes. In some cases, there
can be a learning curve for both the researcher and the participant.
Throughoutthisbook,wewillrecommendbasictechnologiesandadvicefor
easing the learning curve. Finally, while technology is changing the face of
the planet, there still is a digital divide and, unfortunately, the online envi-
ronment still reflects the socio-economic and other realities of society. All
oftheseissueswillhavesomeimpactonthedecisionsyoumakeasyoubegin
to develop and conduct an online study, and so will be discussed in the
following pages.
Who is researching what online?
In the early 1990s, it was difficult to find an online study that had been pub-
lished. Today, there are a number of studies and books in various disciplines
that provide some guidance as to what might constitute an online study.
Communication theorists, for example, have focused on the linguistic status
and characteristics of forms of computer-mediated communication (Davis &
Brewer, 1997; Herring, 1996). Some social theorists focus on the impact of
computer-mediated communication on social interactions and the presenta-
tion of self online (Hine, 2000; Turkle, 1995). Others focus on the cultural
anthropologyoftheenvironmentandtheimpactofthatcultureondailylife,if
any (Rheingold, 1995; Turkle, 1993). Educational researchers are interested in
knowingwhatroletheinternetplaysineducation,thequalityofinternet-based
educational models, the specifics of the delivery of education online, and the
shifting roles of teacher/trainer and learner (Coiro, Knobel, Lankshear & Leu
2008; Comeaux, 2005).
Many studies have come from the discipline of psychology and have been
conducted in a controlled environment (Dubrovsky, Kiesler & Sethna 1991;
Weisband, Schneider & Connolly 1992), evaluating whether or not computer-
mediatedenvironmentsprovideanequalizingeffectonstatuslevelsforpartic-
ipants. Many have also been in relation to employment issues (Bishop, 1993;
Forester, 1992; Rifkin, 1995; Zuboff, 1988), focusing on organizational con-
cerns, worker autonomy and the transformation of social relations in the
workplace. Some have also focused on gender differences, or the lack thereof,
both in acquiring technological knowledge (Zubrow, 1989) and in using
