Historically, social researchers have shown a willingness to exploit new technologies to enhance, facilitate and support their various activities. However, arguably no other technological development has influenced the landscape of social research as rapidly and fundamentally as the Internet. This collection avoids both uncritical embrace and wholesale dismissal by considering some of the key literature in the field of Internet research methods. Volume One: Core Issues, Debates and Controversies in Internet Research introduces themes and issues that run across all four volumes such as: epistemology, ontology and methodology in the online world; access, social divisions and the ′digital divide′; and the ethics of online research. Volume Two: Taking Research Online - Internet Survey and Sampling addresses the range of resources, digital archives and Internet-based data sources that exist online from relatively straightforward and practical guides to such material through to more polemical pieces which consider problems relating to the use, access and analysis of online data and resources. Volume Three: Taking Research Online - Qualitative Approaches considers the broad range of approaches to conducting researching via or ′in′ the Internet. The focus is on conventional methods that have been ′taken online′, and which in doing so, have become transformed in scope and character. Volume Four: Research ′On′ and ′In′ the Internet - Investigating the Online World follows logically from that which precedes it in exploring how social research has been ′taken online′, not simply through the deployment of existing methods and techniques via the Internet, but in researchers′ increasing recognition and investigation of the online world as a sphere of human interaction - a socio-cultural arena to be explored ′from the desktop′ as it were.

This handbook is the first to provide comprehensive, up-to-the-minute coverage of contemporary and developing Internet and online social research methods, spanning both quantitative and qualitative research applications. The editors have brought together leading names in the field of online research to give a thoroughly up to date, practical coverage, richly illustrated with examples. The chapters cover both methodological and procedural themes, offering readers a sophisticated treatment of the practice and uses of Internet and online research that is grounded in the principles of research methodology. Beginning with an examination of the significance of the Internet as a research medium, the book goes on to cover research design, data capture, online surveys, virtual ethnography, and the internet as an archival resource, and concludes by looking at potential directions for the future of Internet and online research. The SAGE Handbook of Internet and Online Research Methods will be welcomed by anyone interested in the contemporary practice of computer-mediated research and scholarship. Postgraduates, researchers and methodologists from disciplines across the social sciences will find this an invaluable source of reference.

Communication research is evolving and changing in a world of online journals, open-access, and new ways of obtaining data and conducting experiments via the Internet. Although there are generic encyclopedias describing basic social science research methodologies in general, until now there has been no comprehensive A-to-Z reference work exploring methods specific to communication and media studies. Our entries, authored by key figures in the field, focus on special considerations when applied specifically to communication research, accompanied by engaging examples from the literature of communication, journalism, and media studies. Entries cover every step of the research process, from the creative development of research topics and questions to literature reviews, selection of best methods (whether quantitative, qualitative, or mixed) for analyzing research results and publishing research findings, whether in traditional media or via new media outlets. In addition to expected entries covering the basics of theories and methods traditionally used in communication research, other entries discuss important trends influencing the future of that research, including contemporary practical issues students will face in communication professions, the influences of globalization on research, use of new recording technologies in fieldwork, and the challenges and opportunities related to studying online multi-media environments. Email, texting, cellphone video, and blogging are shown not only as topics of research but also as means of collecting and analyzing data. Still other entries delve into considerations of accountability, copyright, confidentiality, data ownership and security, privacy, and other aspects of conducting an ethical research program. Features: 652 signed entries are contained in an authoritative work spanning four volumes available in choice of electronic or print formats. Although organized A-to-Z, front matter includes a Reader’s Guide grouping entries thematically to help students interested in a specific aspect of communication research to more easily locate directly related entries. Back matter includes a Chronology of the development of the field of communication research; a Resource Guide to classic books, journals, and associations; a Glossary introducing the terminology of the field; and a detailed Index. Entries conclude with References/Further Readings and Cross-References to related entries to guide students further in their research journeys. The Index, Reader’s Guide themes, and Cross-References combine to provide robust search-and-browse in the e-version.

"This book provides an overview of online research methods in urban and planning studies, exploring and discussing new digital tools and Web-based research methods, as well as the scholarly, legal, and ethical challenges associated with their use"--Provided by publisher.

Research Methods: The Basics is an accessible, user-friendly introduction to the different aspects of research theory, methods and practice. This third edition provides an expanded and fully updated resource suitable for students and practitioners in a wide range of disciplines including the natural sciences, social sciences and humanities. It is structured in two parts – the first covers the nature of knowledge and the reasons for doing research, the second explains the specific methods used to conduct an effective research project and how to propose, plan, carry out and write up a research project. This book covers: • Reasons for doing a research project • Structuring and planning a research project • The ethical issues involved in research • Different types of data and how they are measured • Collecting primary and secondary data • Analysing qualitative and quantitative data • Mixed methods and interdisciplinary research • Devising a research proposal and writing up the research • Motivation and quality of work. Complete with student learning tasks at the end of each section, a glossary of key terms and guides to further reading, Research Methods: The Basics is the essential text for anyone coming to research for the first time. New to this edition is free access to a set of digital resources. This contains case studies, to- do lists, quizzes on aspects of research related to the chapters in the book and useful PowerPoint presentations for lecturers. To access the online material, go to www.routledge.com/9780367694081 and click on ‘Support Material’ beneath the illustration of the front cover.

Text accompanied by a companion web site.

From 2000 to 2012 the number of Internet users rose from less than 0.4 billion to 2.4 billion. Scholarly, evidence-based Internet research is of critical importance. The field of Internet research explores the Internet as a social, political and educational phenomenon, providing theoretical and practical contributions to understanding, and informing practice, policy and further research. This new collection is a unique and welcome work. The editors have compiled a diverse range of new scholarly, peer-reviewed research, spanning the fields of education, arts, the social sciences and technology. The authors provide academic perspectives, both theoretical and practical, on the Internet and citizenship, education, employment, gender, identity, friendship, language, poetry, literature and more. The collection comprises a rich resource for researchers and practitioners alike. Following Notes on Contributors, Acknowledgements, a Foreword, and "Introduction on Internet Research, Theory, and Practice: Perspectives from Ireland" (Cathy Fowley, Claire English, and Sylvie Thous͡ny), the following sections and papers are included: Section 1: Research and Reflections on Ethics and Digital Culture: (1) "Ethical Issues in Internet Research: International Good Practice and Irish Research Ethics Documents" (Heike Felzmann); (2) "Studying Young "People's Blogs: Ethical Implications" (Cathy Fowley); (3) "Poetic Machines: From Paper to Pixel" (Jeneen Naji); (4) "A Second Level Pictorial Turn? The Emergence of Digital Ekphrasis from the Visuality of New Media" (Nina Shiel); and (5) "Digital Reading: A Question of Prelectio?" (Noel Fitzpatrick). Section 2: Research and Reflections on Societal Practices; (6) "Constructions of Violence and Masculinity in the Digital Age" (Jennifer Patterson); (7) "The Public Sphere and Online Social Media: Exploring the Use of Online Social Media as Discursive Spaces in an Irish Context" (Claire English); (8) "Not Quite Kicking Off Everywhere: Feminist Notes on Digital Liberation" (Angela Nagle); (9) "We are All Friends Nowadays: But What is the Outcome of Online Friendship for Young People in Terms of Individual Social Capital?" (Anne Rice); (10) "Romanian Diaspora in the Making? An Online Ethnography of Romaniancommunity.net" (Gloria Macri); (11) "What's 'Smart' About Working from Home: Telework and the Sustainable Consumption of Distance in Ireland?" (Michael Hynes); and (12) "Surveillance Privacy and Technology: Contemporary Irish Perspectives" (Kenny Doyle). Section 3: Research and Reflections on Educational Practices: (13) Digital Divide in Post-Primary Schools (Ann Marcus-Quinn and Oliver McGarr); (14) "The Use of a Task-Based Online Forum in Language Teaching: Learning Practices and Outcomes (Marie-Thřs̈e Batardir̈e); (15) "Using Facebook in an Irish Third-Level Education Context: A Case-Study" (Catherine Jeanneau); (16) "Internet-Based Textual Interventions and Interactions: How Language Learners Engage Online in a Written Task" (Sylvie Thous͡ny); and (17) "Information and Communication Technology in Foreign Language Teaching: Leveraging the Internet to Make Language Learning Real" (Etìn Watson). Section 4: Research and Reflections on Irish Resources: (18) "The Born Digital Graduate: Multiple Representations of and Within Digital Humanities PhD Theses" (Sharon Webb, Aja Teehan, and John Keating); (19) DHO: Discovery--Stargazing from the Ground Up" (Niall O'Leary); (20) "Database in Theory and Practice: The Bibliography of Irish Literary Criticism" (Sonia Howell); (21) "Digital Humanities and Political Innovation: The SOWIT Model" (Vanessa Liston, Clodagh Harris, Mark O'Toole, and Margaret Liston). A Name Index is included.