Clare Madge - Department of Geography Henrietta O’Connor - Centre for Labour Market Studies

1. Clare Madge- Department of Geography Henrietta O’Connor- Centre for Labour Market Studies Jane Wellens- Teaching and Learning Unit University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester, LE1 7RH, UK

2. Exploring the Internet as a Medium for Research • Introduction • Researching Online: the Cyberparents Example - Web-based questionnaire - Online synchronous interviews • Some issues arising from using a virtual methodology - Access, Sampling and Identity Verification in Web-based Surveys - Engagement, Interaction and Communication in Synchronous Online Interviews • Conclusions

3. Introduction • ICT opens up new possibilities for research: • adapting existing methodologies to a new medium • creating new methodological possibilities • Numerous general advantages of online research methods have been identified. • A reflexive discussion of the usefulness of online research is still important.

4. Rationale • Hewson et al. (2003, 1) recently argue that: `…many issues are just starting to be addressed.’ • Mann and Stewart (2000, 4) observe that `…it is perhaps surprising that the suitability of the Internet for conducting research remains relatively unexplored.’ • This paper will contribute to the emerging debate about the value of on-line research.

5. Aims of paper • Focus on the possibilities and limitations of web-based questionnaire surveys and online synchronous interviews. • Discuss some of the implications of conducting research in the virtual arena, with particular emphasis on: • access, sampling and identity verification for web-based surveys; • engagement, online interactions and computer mediated communications for synchronous group interviews.

6. Researching Online: the Cyberparents Example • Increasing number of parenting sites in UK, for example: • http://www.babyworld.co.uk • http://www.ukparents.co.uk • http://www.boots.co.uk • Role of the Internet in the lives of new parents. ‘…the immense inner sense of security that comes with discovering that real people – most of them parents, some of them nurses, doctors and midwives are available, around the clock if you need them…’(Rheingold, 1994:16).

7. The Case Study Site:http://www.babyworld.co.uk • First UK-based parenting website. • Launched by Radcliffe Medical Press in 1995 • Now an independent company. • Aims ‘…to bring accurate and reliable advice to new parents’. • Promoted as `the mother of parenting websites’. • Advertised in NHS publication given to all new parents. • Usage figures show it is the largest parenting site in the UK. • 160,000 unique visits per month, generating 3 million page impressions.

8. ‘Babyworld – be part of it’ • Babyworld’s mission is to support a community where ‘…new and expectant parents can share experiences and support, women can learn about their bodies, their baby, and childbirth and parents can celebrate the joy of a new life’. • Information, community, shopping. • http://www.babyworld.co.uk/

9. The Research Process • Established contact with site facilitators. • Interviewed key staff members. • Background information. • Access agreed. • Established webpages for the project within the University website. • Used University crest and linked only to University and babyworld. • http://www.geog.le.ac.uk/baby/

10. Web-based Questionnaire • Hypertext link from babyworld homepage and other popular pages of the babyworld site established to our web-based questionnaire. • Web-based questionnaire: • Simple and quick to complete • Drop down menus • Ranking questions • Open questions • Final question about further participation • Pop up ‘thank you’ once submitted successfully • http://www.geog.le.ac.uk/baby/babyworldform.asp

11. On-line synchronous interviews • Sixteen respondents expressed interest in further interview. • Respondents geographically widely dispersed. • Many had new babies and/or were pregnant. • All internet/technology users. • Logical progression to interview online. • Hotline Connect conferencing software familiar to researchers was available.

12. Hotline Connect • Used as tool for distance learning students. • Facilitates real time chat through specific server address. • Advantages: • Easy to install on PC and Apple Mac. • No need for sophisticated hardware or high technical ability • Facilitators have control – confidentiality • Low cost • Available from http://www.hotspringsinc.com

14. Access in Web-based Surveys • Accessing respondents a key concern in web-based surveys. • Agreement and co-operation of the website providers essential to the success of the survey. • Hotlinks to the survey were created in prime locations in the Babyworld website • The significance of having the site providers `on our side’ cannot be underestimated.

15. Access in Web-based Surveys • Access issue increasingly important in web-based surveys: • novelty of responding to online surveys wears off; • online users are becoming wise to the fact that they are paying for the privilege of being `over-surveyed’; • Invitations to participate in surveys are increasingly considered `spamming’; • online surveys often have lower response rates than onsite surveys; • e.g. Witmer et al. (1999) report response rates of 10% or lower being common for online surveys.

16. Identity verification in Web-based Surveys • In our research it was not possible to verify identity of participants. • However, the questionnaire was so specific to being a new parent and a user of the Babyworld website that it would have been difficult, if not impossible, to complete the questionnaire without a detailed working knowledge of the website. • However, is a possibility that some respondents were `spoofs’ or indeed may have played with their online identity in completing the research.

17. Reliability of Web-based Surveys • Online research does not enable the researcher to assess the reliability of responses. • As Hewson et al. (2003, 44) state: `…when materials are administered via a computer terminal rather than in person, the researcher is less able to judge the extent to which the responses are sincere and genuine, the conditions under which the questionnaire was answered and the state of the participants at the time of participation (for example, intoxicated, distracted, and so on)…’ • These problems not unique to virtual methods.

18. Is it necessary to `prove’ the offline identity of the participants? • Taylor (1999, 443) argues that this depends on the initial research question and that: `…the acceptance of online life as a thing in itself is important’. • (Valentine, 2001, 56) considers that: ‘…online textual persona cannot be separated from the offline physical person who constructs them and they are commonly based on offline identities in any case.’ • Anonymity of participants can play a positive role in the research process, reducing researcher bias and being particularly useful for embarrassing and sensitive topics (Hewson et al., 2003)

19. Sampling in Web-based Surveys • Massive literature/debate surrounding this issue. • Non-random sampling is not possible: • no access to a central registry from which to create an accurate sampling frame • no way of discerning how many users are logging on from a particular computer; • Individuals may have multiple accounts and memberships. • Self-selection is suitable in certain cases and can connect with common interest groups, those difficult to reach and specific online communities.

20. Sampling in Web-based Surveys • Divergent opinion as to whether the Internet provides an inherently biased sample population. • In early years of its inception, those using the Internet tended to be predominately male, white, first world residents under 35 years old. • Some argue access to the Internet is still highly unevenly distributed both socially and spatially: • Silver (2000), considers that the digital divide has continued to grow in America, and this divide is fast becoming a `racial ravine’, suggesting a biased Internet user sample population.

21. Sampling in Web-based Surveys • Others are more optimistic: • Hewson et al. (2003) consider that Internet users now represent a vast and diverse section of general population and rapidly moving beyond select group of technological proficient male professionals. • Dodd (1998, 63) argues that the Internet’s broad scope can actually improve representativeness, as many population groups usually difficult to contact may be easier to access via the Internet. • Litvin and Kar (2001) show sample characteristics of conventional methods and electronic methods are converging, with electronically solicited samples becoming more like random paper-based samples, as technological uptake of the Internet increases.

22. Engagement, Interaction and Communication in Synchronous Online Interviews • Virtual interviews challenge conventional interviewing practices, in particular: • Rapport building (e.g. lack of visual/physical pointers) • Interview design • Language use • Virtual interface • ‘Insiders and outsiders’ • However,‘the vast majority of social spaces on the internet bear a remarkable resemblance to real world locales’ (Kitchin 1998, 395).

23. Engagement and Rapport in Synchronous Online Interviews • ‘…a stranger wanting to do academic research into on-line communities is often viewed as an unwelcome arbitrary intrusion (Paccagnella 1997, 3). • In our research our `insider’ status as users of the website and our commonality of identity both as women and as new mothers facilitated these mother-to-mother interviews and dispensed with the need for any cultural gatekeepers. • We did not encounter the much written about `…aura of suspicion’ surrounding `…stranger-to-stranger communication in cyberspace’ (Smith 1997, 40).

24. First of all we thought it would be a good idea to introduce ourselves Hi, I’m Henrietta. I have a daughter called Alicia who will be 2 in July. I am 30 years old and work at Leicester University as a lecturer on a distance learning course. I came back to work when Alicia was 3 months old and she has gone to the nearby nursery full-time since then. At work we rely on the internet a great deal. Many of the students live in different parts of the world and use email to communicate and we also use Hotline to talk to them. When I first came back to work I found that I also used the internet a lot to look for information and advice about being a new parent.

25. Julia: Hi, I am 34 on Sunday (!!) with a daughter, Anabelle aged 10 months. I am a full time mother and am loving avery minute of it. Jane: Hi, I'm Jane, I'm 29 years old, 30 in September. I'm a new mum, with a daughter , Joy who was born on March 15th, so coming up for 3 months now. I'm a stay at home mum, and about to go crazy at times, as she's had colic, and screams like mad.. I love being a mum!! Jo: Hello everyone! I am 33 years old, married and have a 21 month old daughter who I'm sure is starting the terrible twos early! I work part time (reluctantly) but love being a mum.

26. Interaction in Synchronous Online Interviews • Tendency to be more open, even to strangers, than there would be in offline encounters: • ‘It is so easy to email and say what we think by typing a letter … when it’s face to face it’s harder’ (Sally, cybermother). • ‘Without visual cues about gender, age, ethnicity and social status conversations open up in directions which might otherwise be avoided. Participants in these virtual communities often express themselves with little inhibition and dialogues flourish and develop quickly’ (Poster, 1995, 90).

27. Kerry: Being anon means that you don't get embarassed asking about a little point or something personal Hen and Clare: is it also that you can ask a Q/get an immediate response at any time time of the day? Kerry: I also find that the HV advice sometimes sounds like it is coming from a text book as mt HV's children are grown up Amy: The timing does help. I wouldn't want to troubel the HV/GP in the Night unless ti was important, but knowing there's someone there is reassuring, Even though I haven't had to.

28. Chen and Hinton (1999, 13.2) consider this can result in the potential of the virtual interview to become the `great equaliser’ with the interviewer having less control over the interview process and the researcher potentially becoming a `participant researcher’ (Seymour, 2001). • But this is a rather utopian vision: • clues’ to bodily identities; • mannered behaviours `visible’ during online conversations; • structural power hierarchies that enable researchers to set the agenda; • speed of typing dominates the interaction.

29. Online interviews can promote some levels of equality as: • harder for someone to dominate the group and participation levels more uniform online; • Interviews can be conducted at `home’. • `There are many people who ‘don’t do well in spontaneous spoken conversation but turn out to have valuable contributions to make …These people …can find written communication more authentic than the face to face kind’ (Rheingold, 1994, 23-24).

30. Computer-mediated conversation in Synchronous Online Interviews- • Changed interview conversation • Supportive interactions • Written conversation

31. Changed interview conversation • Michaelson (1996, 58) notes that: `The relative anonymity that IT provides also changes the rules of discourse.’ • Dependent on written rather than spoken language: • ‘You are accepted on the basis of your written words, not what you look like or sound like of where you live’ (Kitchin 1998, 387). • Interrupting a virtual conversation somehow felt more acceptable in the written word than in the spoken F2F context.

32. Lack of visual and tactile communication replaced by specific Internet language: • Paralinguistic expressions such as lol (laugh out loud). • Emoticons (emotional icons used to express feelings, for example ;-) which represents a wink) were used by the interviewees a lot to replace facial expressions and voice quality. • Absence of audio/visual cues (or clues) meant that often the empathy we held with the woman had to be explicit rather than through utterances and gestures.

33. Hen and Clare: so are you both happy with the info you receive from BW? do you think it favourably compares with info from elsewhere, mother, health visitor, gp, neighbours, books? Kim: ;-) Elin: I suffered from Pre-eclampsia and had an emergency caesarean. I found this difficult to deal with what I learnt from the internet helped greatly Hen and Clare: that must have been hard Elin: It was a bit, being able to log on and just read other peoples stories to start with helped. I didn't join in until later

34. Supportive interactions • Recognition of the gendered nature of on-line communication with gender bias in dominance of discussions, misogynistic attitudes and language and message content (Herring 1999). • On-line utterances tend to be male orientated and male dominated, with sexual harassment and flaming (abusive, rude or dismissive comments) being common (Herring 1996).

35. On-line interactions were supportive and sensitive with a high degree of trust and intimacy. • This is probably partly owing to our sample population, being Babyworld users, which is predominately a woman-centred website based on knowledge sharing and support.

36. Mandy: When I first became a mum I found the enormity of it all very overwhelming Marianne: I spent ages worrying that I didn't have the "telepathy" all mums are supposed to have. I did in the end, but I was too busy panicking to realise! Mandy: I hope all new mums panic cause I still do sometimes Hen and Clare: we still do too Mandy: I know that feeling Marianne: God, yes!!! Every sniff is a major illness, if he's sleeping noisily I'm worried that he's uncomfortable and if he's sleeping quietly - it worries me even more!!! Mandy: I'm glad I'm not the only one

37. Written conversation • Data attained from this method is `…distinctly different from that of a transcribed conversation’ (Chen and Hinton 1999, 9.1). • Less structured and more interactive than F2F interview transcript. • Questions and responses were posted in `rounds’ with time lags, so final interview text is littered with interruptions and non-sequesters, resembling a conversation not a linear written word. • `Silences’ .

38. Virtual interview bridged the oral/written divide. Although clearly in written format, the type of interventions were very oral in nature, little attention to spelling and grammar, as the nature and meaning of the conversation took precedence over the correctly written word. • Transcript resembles a ‘written conversation’.

39. Hen and Clare: so has joining BW made you feel like you are part of a virtual mother and toddler group? Have you made any friend ships through the website? Hen and Clare: and in what way are the friendships different from 'real life' ones? Mandy: On the net you talk more to the point about something as there are no distractions Marianne: All my friends on the net are people I knew before I got online, so I can't compare. I've chatted with other people, btu not got in deep, as it were... Hen and Clare: Mandy - do you mean child type distractions or that it is easier to be straight when people can't see you face to face? Mandy: both

40. Conclusions- the potentials… • Aid interaction with formerly unapproachable groups. • Access to group with shared, narrowly defined interests. • Provide previously unobtainable information and perspectives. • Although sampling problems remain, the indicative data gained from on-line research may be useful for research on population sub-groups and for exploratory analysis. • Savings of time and money. • As on-line research is still in its infancy, many of its potentials are still to be discovered and evaluated.

41. …and the limitations • Novel techniques so while some of their limitations may therefore be solved in time, others may never be remedied. • Indeed although the data collected by virtual interviews, in particular, can be rich and valuable to the researcher, the potential of on-line research should not be exaggerated: many of the issues and problems of conventional research methods still apply in the virtual venue. • While online methodological frameworks are in constant flux, change is not necessarily always progressive: faster and cheaper is not necessarily synonymous with `better’.

42. So…. • As Dodd (1998, 60) argues, we must ensure that ‘…cheap entry costs and glowing attractiveness of Internet fieldwork do not result in shoddy `cowboy’ research.’ • There is a need for online researchers to practice their ‘craft’ with reflexivity. • It is unlikely that online research is going to replace onsite research but rather it is another option in the researchers’ methodological `toolkit’. • Therefore the use of online research methods must themselves be carefully considered.

43. As Illingworth (2001, abstract) suggests, we should avoid the use of the Internet as an `easy option’ and ‘…encourage a more developed focus on the justification, applicability and benefits of Internet research to a particular project. What has become apparent is that the effectiveness of CMC is much dependent on who is being researched, what is being researched and why.’ • The long-term success of online research in the end will ultimately depend on the quality and credibility of the information that it generates.

44. The Future? • Communication technologies are constantly developing and changing, as are delivery devices, web interfaces, hardware and software tools. The digital design of online technologies will inform the types of interaction and methodological choices that are possible in future online research. • Likely to see an increase in the use of ‘mixed method triangulation’ with onsite and online methods both used to interrogate and verify the intersections between real and virtual infrastructures, enabling research to take place across a variety of online/offline domains.

45. This will challenge the boundaries of traditional fieldwork, which is usually located in a particular place. • The development of wireless technologies, such as mobile phones, for example, will separate the Internet from the computer and are likely to have, as yet, unforeseen methodological consequences, as will interactive television and speech recognition software.

46. Tools for Constructing Online Questionnaires • Wide range of sites offering online questionnaire hosting eg http://www.free-online-surveys.co.uk • Allows creation and hosting of web based questionnaires • User doesn’t require software or server • Free service gives 20 questions and allows 50 responses • Upgraded service costs $9.99/month for students/teachers and gives unlimited questions and up to 1,000 responses • Web-editing software e.g Microsoft Frontpage, Dreamweaver • Most have functions to readily create forms and surveys • Require the user to have access to a web server

47. Tools for Constructing Online Questionnaires • Specialist software enabling use of online questionnaires • E.g. Blackboard Virtual Learning Environment. Questionmark Perception • May require users to have accounts • Requires access to both servers and software • Provide the greatest range of question types and facilitate automatic collation of results

48. Tools for Carrying out Online Interviews • Widely available online chatting software e.g. Hotline Connect, MSN messenger, Yahoo messenger • Familiar to wide range of users • Easy to install • Pictures and images can be included using webcams • Blackboard VLE offers synchronous discussion in the Virtual Classroom • Requires users to be registered for an account by the researcher/their institution • Archive of discussion automatically saved