Virtual Methods: Issues in Social Research on the Internet
Oxford: Berg (2005), xiii, 242 pp.
Contains illustrations, bibliogr. pp. 209-237, index
ISBN 978-184520-085-5 (pbk); 978-1-4742-1593-0 (online)
Signature commbox: 70-Research-E 2005
"Virtual Methods offers a detailed exploration of the problems and opportunities surrounding Internet-based research. Can offline and online observations be combined? Are online interviews able to produce high quality data? How does a researcher sort through the vast mass of material available? From hyperlink analysis to the sex industry online, case studies sensitively highlight the difficulties researchers face, point out the opportunities to be seized, and offer practical solutions. Virtual Methods provides concrete advice for all stages of the research process." (Publisher description)
1 Virtual Methods and the Sociology of Cyber-Social-Scientific Knowledge / Christine Hine, 1
I. RESEARCH RELATIONSHIPS AND ONLINE RELATIONSHIPS
Introduction / Christine Hine, 7
2 Internet Behaviour and the Design of Virtual Methods / Adam Joinson, 21
3 Online Interviewing and the Research Relationship / Joælle Kivits, 35
4 From Online to Offline and Back: Moving from Online to Offline Relationships with Research Informants / Shani Orgad, 51
5 Researching the Online Sex Work Community / Teela Sanders, 67
6 Ethnographic presence in a Nebulous Setting / Jason Rutter and Gregory W. H. Smith, 81
7 Centring the Links: Understanding Cybernetic Patterns of Co-production, Circulation and Consumption / Maximilian C. Forte, 93
II. RESEARCH SITES AND STRATEGIES
Introduction / Christine Hine, 109
8 The Role of Maps in Virtual Research Methods / Martin Dodge, 113
9 New Connections, Familiar Settings: Issues in the Ethnographic Study of New Media Use at Home / Hugh Mackay, 129
10 Doing Anthropology in Cyberspace: Fieldwork Boundaries and Social Environments / Mçrio J. L. Guimarïes Jr, 141
11 Web Sphere Analysis: An Approach to Studying Online Action / Steven M. Schneider and Kirsten A. Foot, 157
12 The Network Approach to Web Hyperlink Research and its Utility for Science Communication / Han Woo Park and Mike Thelwall, 171
13 Sociable Hyperlinks: An Ethnographic Approach to Connectivity / Anne Beaulieu, 183
14 Epilogue: Methodological Concerns and Innovations in Internet Research / Nicholas W. Jankowski and Martine van Selm, 199
I. RESEARCH RELATIONSHIPS AND ONLINE RELATIONSHIPS
Introduction / Christine Hine, 7
2 Internet Behaviour and the Design of Virtual Methods / Adam Joinson, 21
3 Online Interviewing and the Research Relationship / Joælle Kivits, 35
4 From Online to Offline and Back: Moving from Online to Offline Relationships with Research Informants / Shani Orgad, 51
5 Researching the Online Sex Work Community / Teela Sanders, 67
6 Ethnographic presence in a Nebulous Setting / Jason Rutter and Gregory W. H. Smith, 81
7 Centring the Links: Understanding Cybernetic Patterns of Co-production, Circulation and Consumption / Maximilian C. Forte, 93
II. RESEARCH SITES AND STRATEGIES
Introduction / Christine Hine, 109
8 The Role of Maps in Virtual Research Methods / Martin Dodge, 113
9 New Connections, Familiar Settings: Issues in the Ethnographic Study of New Media Use at Home / Hugh Mackay, 129
10 Doing Anthropology in Cyberspace: Fieldwork Boundaries and Social Environments / Mçrio J. L. Guimarïes Jr, 141
11 Web Sphere Analysis: An Approach to Studying Online Action / Steven M. Schneider and Kirsten A. Foot, 157
12 The Network Approach to Web Hyperlink Research and its Utility for Science Communication / Han Woo Park and Mike Thelwall, 171
13 Sociable Hyperlinks: An Ethnographic Approach to Connectivity / Anne Beaulieu, 183
14 Epilogue: Methodological Concerns and Innovations in Internet Research / Nicholas W. Jankowski and Martine van Selm, 199
