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Online Research Methods and Social Theory

Online Research Methods and Social Theory. Grant Blank Prepared for the ESRC colloquium on Sage Handbook of Online Research Methods, March 29, 2007. Robert Boyle & the Air Pump. Experiments with pressure-temperature-volume Social setting: English Civil War Religious belief as personal vision

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Online Research Methods and Social Theory

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  1. Online Research Methods and Social Theory Grant Blank Prepared for the ESRC colloquium on Sage Handbook of Online Research Methods, March 29, 2007

  2. Robert Boyle & the Air Pump • Experiments with pressure-temperature-volume • Social setting: English Civil War • Religious belief as personal vision • Alternative social theory • Settle disputes by consensus on facts • Powerful people cannot impose belief • Stable agreement is community based

  3. How do online research method relate to theory? • Common themes: • Quantity of data • Additional computer resources • Qualitative analysis bottleneck

  4. Quantity of data • Two forms • Electronic traces • Unobtrusive • Collected data • Sample surveys • Price: • Ethical issues • Knowing who responds • Difficulty of randomization

  5. What will we do with All This Data? • Skeptical questions about • Qualitative data • Quantitative data

  6. Qualitative issues • Done before by ecological psychologists • Why didn’t people pay attention? • Lack of theory • Limits of observational data: no access to internal states

  7. Quantitative issues • What is value of enormous datasets? • Why 1.2B cases when can sample 1500? • Resembles a census • Alternative: Csikszentmihalyi’s beeper data • Sample • Theoretically grounded • What is theoretical payoff?

  8. Additional computer resources • Theme for decades • Theoretical payoff • Examples • Network theory • Coleman Report

  9. Qualitative analysis bottleneck • Available data have increased far more than our ability to analyze them • Analysis is easier • But • Coding slow, labor intensive • Analysis slow • Impact of online research weakened

  10. Pandora as alternative • Mathematical formula identify songs • Can pattern-recognition software be developed to recognize • People, actions, objects in film? • Language in text

  11. The Online World • Where are we now? • Struggling to understand tools • Trying to take advantage of strengths • Trying to avoid pitfalls

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