In this blog entry, I would like to invite comments on the use of the Internet and the Web in support of any stage in empirical research: from finding a problem area and conducting a review of the literature to collecting and analyzing data and disseminating the results.
I welcome your comments on this topic whether you have already performed any of these tasks online or not. Consider any Internet-based software and activity in your comments: from email, instant messenger, and Web-based conferencing software to Web-based discussion forums or Web-based survey (questionnaire) sites, such as: http://www.surveymonkey.com
Using the Internet for at least some part of your research can be invaluable. Conducting online bibliographic search of journals for research articles is a very efficient method of performing a review of the literature. Although this is usually performed through subscription based online bibliographic databases (that are typically available through college library services), there are many free sources of research information available on the Web. For example, I am conducting historical research on the informal and social learning and adoption of innovation during the Italian Renaissance that (I believe) was the driving force behind that artistic, scholarly, and cultural revolution. Although I take research trips to Italy, I am fortunate in being able to access many original sources of correspondence and publication on Web sites associated with museums, such as manuscripts by Galileo at http://fermi.imss.fi.it/rd/bd?lng=en).
Sometimes, using the Internet can make the difference in completing your research. When I conducted a survey of faculty use of Internet-based software to support scholarly research, I offered an email alternative to the print questionnaires so that users could choose a method of data collection that was preferable. I included questions regarding the mode of data collection and the returned data suggested that a significant part of the subject sample would not have responded without the email option. The completed email questionnaires contributed to the overall number to achieve an acceptable response rate – allowing me to proceed with the study. Another finding in that study was that faculty used Internet software such as email mostly for discussing and planning research – and more often with colleagues of similar interests outside of their academic department or university.
Your comments can be as brief as you like, so let us know what you think about conducting research online.
Thanks,
Doc
I absolutely think that conducting research online is a valuable source, as it has the potential to reach the most people with little effort. However, I can see a downside of that people do so many things online, that emails, and surveys seem to have little significance and go unnoticed at times. If there is an incentive to complete the survey (receive some offer, or chance to win something), it can be helpful. But I feel that people taking the test online, rather than going in, offering their time, etc may just go through and click answers rather than think it through, so that they can just quickly get the offer. I believe surveys that are narrative based probably offer more than those that are multiple choice.
Using online sources is incredibly valuable for research purposes, in coordination with other research methods. It allows you to sit at your desk in your own home and really focus on research and digging up what you need and are looking for. I have used web based surveys, email, online searches, web conferencing, and some others I am not mentioning. In some cases the application and benefit to online research is obvious, like in the case of web based surveys. In other cases, it is not so obvious, like in the case of Instant Messaging. It is an interesting idea though to use IM to communicate with study participants for example. This may allow for significant access to a population that you may not otherwise have access to.
My only words of caution about online research would be the following. Are we on the verge of going to far? I have not researched it and don’t have any solid data to back it up, however, I have gotten the impression that many college students today only know online research. In their minds that is the only way to do research. My question would be are we going to far? Are we going to reach a point where the average college student does not know/learn about other methods of research beyond what can be done online?
Thanks, Heather and Rachel for sharing your insights about online research.
Heather suggests that when collecting data online, incentives might be needed more than in mailed or in-person administration of questionnaires. Online questionnaires are convenient, but will prospective respondees value the research less because there is less work and cost involved on the researcher’s part?
And Rachel brings up an interesting point. With increasing access and use of online bibliographic research, Web-based survey services. and other online support for research, will prospective researchers overlook undertaking these activities in physical libraries and in-person data collection when these are more well suited to the problem (simply because online methods are more convenient)?
Just thought I would put good word in for a free Web-based online research tool that may be of interest to anyone reading this blog entry: Zotero, an add-on for the Firefox Web browser.
If you are not already familiar with this browser-based software tool (developed at George Mason Univ.), you might be interested in using it with the free Firefox Web browser (requries ver. 2.0 or above).
If you don’t have Firefox browser installed, you can install it from here:
http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/
After you have installed Firefox browser, you can install the Zotero add-on here:
http://www.zotero.org
You can read a more detailed description of Zotero at http://www.zotero.org/about/) or view a demo on their home page.
Enjoy,
Doc
I think online research is a valuable tool for conducting research projects, but it is just one of many tools. I don’t think anyone should ever say they would only do their research online. I think it is important that the tool, whether it is online or not, match the circumstances of the project. Too many people gravitate towards online as the only way to do research.
While information online can often be more timely than that published in books in the library, one has to be careful of the quality of the material that one finds. There’s a lot of inaccurate and misleading information, and students need to know how to do appropriate searchs that will turn up relevant material and also know how to evaluate whether the material they have found is reliable. If they can’t do either of these things, than those negatives could very well outweight the convenience of online research.
One of the most helpful things I learned in doing online research is a session that I attended at the GMU library during a class period for EDIT 704. During that class, we went to the library and one of the library staff gave a complete training session on how to research materials using the GMU databases- what search tips to use, what sources to look for, how to evaluate the material that we found. Given that it had been many years since I last did any kind of research for school, this was a tremendous help and if I hadn’t had this training session, research would have been much harder and less productive for me.
Hi Tiffany,
I agree. Online bibliographic research or what is a research literature review has really made the lives of professional and student researchers much better (less time in library ;-). And I also agree that informal sources as well as more formal sources of research results should be considered critically.
Thanks for sharing your views with us on this aspect of research conducted online,
Doc
I think that the Web offers many tools that can be extremely useful in conducting research and in disseminating results. The example that springs to mind for me is research in genealogy. I have a brother and a friend, both of whom are very serious about exploring their family history on an extensive scale! They both use the Internet in all sorts of ways.
My brother used the Web from the start of his research, and has found many distant relatives who are still alive through Internet searches. He has made contact with some of them via email, after which he got more leads to follow up on for his research. He now has an elaborate family tree – with gaps, of course, that he is still pursuing – and he says that much of the data in it could not have been found without the Internet.
My friend started out by doing her research on paper, many years ago, but now uses the Internet a great deal. She said that it made an enormous difference when she discovered all the tools that the Internet offers for her hobby. In her case, it motivated her to learn about computers, which were a new challenge for her.
Of course, both these people also use documents and archives for their research but, as often as not, it is some source on the Internet which has led them to those materials.
Thanks Judith, for sharing those cases of informal historical research of family geneology through Web sites and Web search on that topic.
Your point is well taken, although the information is largely in the form of documents that are stored on Web sites or in the databases that you can access through them, they are often placed there by people who are also involved and often expert in that knowledge domain.
I do believe that the internet/ web is a very useful, supportive and productive means of research. In my case, my undergraduate days did not afford me that much opportunity to partake in web research due to the economy of my country. However, my few months of graduate studies here in the United States has made me appreciate the internet with regard to mainly the search for information.
The web has made it very easy for information on whatever research topic is being searched for easily acessible and much easir to find. It is also a room or open space to hace a variety of resources to battress ones findings with regards to testing a Reseach Hypothesis.
Thanks Afua, for sharing your thoughts about the Internet as a resouce for useful information and that despite it being a global phenomenon, not all people in all countries have equal access to this information.
Hi, I don’t think that I could survive without doing research online. I do not do all of my research via the internet and I am very careful about the sources. I do still place a high value on books and periodicals, which I use a lot. I have been able to find data from around the world that I would not have found in the local library. I am a fan. Though not for wiki.