Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
more specifically, getting participants to give in-depth, honest answers to
questions, is to help a participant be confident that he or she can trust the
researcher to do what he or she says they will do. Unfortunately, that task is
confounded by the fact that just as other people on the internet can create new
identities online, so, too, can the researcher. This ability of the researcher to
create an alternative identity can present a problem in the establishment of
trust (Maczewski et al., 2004: 71).
Not only is the establishment of trust compromised by the possibility that a
researcher may not be who he or she says, but it can also be confounded by the
basics of one's self-presentation. Lacking all of the usual visual and vocal cues
for self-presentation (Goffman, 1959), online we only have words, word
choices, signature files, our email address, and so forth. These are the things
that constitute our 'voice' online. Thus, everyone has a certain 'voice' online
that may or may not match their voice in real-life encounters. People respond
to us based on that online voice (Maczewski et al., 2004).
At one point during a research study on an online community, a participant
from Australia telephoned me (TJG). He said that he was interested in speak-
ing with me to see if his perception of my online persona matched what he
thought he would learn from a synchronous conversation where he would hear
my voice. His impressions of my two personas were not the same. He felt my
online presentation was formal, professional and carried an air of intellectual
authority (probably a good thing, by the way, since I was the researcher). While
he still felt I was articulate in person, to use his words, I also sounded “much
younger and sporty than he had initially anticipated.” As noted by this
encounter, the challenge for researchers is that they need to be aware of their
online voice and self-presentation, so as not to have it work against them when
attempting to establish trust.
Again, the general point is to be as careful and thoughtful as possible when
using data of any kind. Researchers should keep in mind that while they believe
a particular piece of data is harmless, others may feel otherwise. At a profes-
sional conference, an attendee stated that she felt that her participation in an
online forum that was being studied by another colleague impacted her tenure
application by identifying her particular intellectual perspective in a way that
made her look less desirable to her department. Whether or not it was true or
verifiable in any way, the fact remains that she believed it to be true, which
should be sufficient reason to give researchers pause for thought.
Informed consent
In any study with research participants, the use of informed consent should
be considered. In some cases, a review may lead a researcher to determine
that it is not necessary. In other situations, a review will determine that
using informed consent is vital. It is worth noting, however, that an informed
