Internet Inquiry

For first M. Phil paper, but also of relevance to further sociological studies of internet & new media.

Bibliographic Deets
Internet Inquiry: Conversations about Method. Edited b Annette N. Markham & Nancy K. Baym. SAGE. London, Los Angeles, New Delhi, Singapore. 2009.

Overview

 * Sociological studies of the internet are an exciting emerging domain for sociology but the unique characteristics of the space can be challenging. In this text, several prominent scholars of the topic take on preset "Questions" in an attempt to formalize this type of inquiry.

Introduction

 * "The internet changes the way we understand and conduct qualitative inquiry." (viii)
 * "Contemporary disruption of social boundaries, as exemplified by shifting nature of private and public" (xi)
 * "Qualitative researchers must grapple more than ever with the problem of how to identify one phenomenon when convergence intertwines them all together." (x)
 * "Few people who study the internet are trained by a person, let alone a program, that gave them specialized guidance on how to do it well." (xiv)
 * "Qualitative internet researches need is thus an exagerrated form of what all qualitative researchers require- a way to navigate the novelty of the contemporary landscape while drawing on and contributing to the accumulated methodological and topical wisdom of relevant pasts." (xv)

Hine's Essay

 * To be Read

boyd's response

 * "networked technologies have completely disrupted any simple construction of a field site." (27)
 * "in networked society, we cannot take for granted the idea that culture is about collocated peoples. It is not a question of mobility but of access to a hypertextual world." (27)

Offers a short skeleton program
 * 1) Read Ethnographies -> keep voice of ethnographies help her "see" (28-29)
 * 2) Begin by focusing on a culture -> "be bound by culture not by questions" (29)
 * 3) Get into the field, hang out, observe, document, question, analyze
 * 4) Never get too comfortable
 * 5) Understand that boundary construction is a social process
 * 6) Understand that making meaning is an interpretative process


 * Recommended Reading
 * Geertz: Interpretation of Culture
 * Hine's Virtual Ethnography
 * Don Slater's The Internet: An ethnographic approach

Q6: What Constitutes Quality in Qualitative Internet Research

 * Nancy Baym's Essay is first


 * 1) "first, good work is historically grounded." (179) -> Just cuz its "new" b/c of internet, doesn't mean its unantipicated or precedented.
 * 2) Focus -> "develop a clear focus and stick to it" (181)
 * 3) Be practical "the internet may make near-infinite piles of data available" but "we have to make choices, or we will never get past data collection" (182)
 * 4) Anticipate Counter-Arguments -> This is a busy section (182 - 187) with lots of things about reflexivity and participant engagement -> Important stuff "document your research process" (186) and "frame the study for diverse readers" (187)
 * 5) Develop Compelling Explanations

Go back to At Cambridge