November 19, 2012 5:45 AM

I'm teaching a class next week on "Online research: New challenges & opportunities". In preparation, I was thinking of all the ways to study online (and by this I mean both Internet and mobile) phenomena and to use online methods to study other things.

As I love typologies, I thought I'd prepare one on this.  Although such a list doesn't express the complexity of online research, I thought it would demonstrate the diverse ways to investigate digital media.

Online methods to examine online phenomena:

• computer-captured and compiled data (e.g., web metrics)
• email, virtual reality, VoIP telephone or video call, or instant messaging interviews
• diarying or user logs
• remote observation (participant or nonparticipant)
• online focus groups
• web-based or email surveys
• audience response systems
• remote user testing or experiments
• autoethnography (can be conducted through blogging)

• social network analysis
• semiotics or visual analysis
• content analysis
• discourse analysis 
• hermeneutics
• ethnography

• web-based or email surveys
• email, virtual reality, VoIP, or instant messaging interviews
• diarying (e.g. through special software or blogs)
• photo documentation via mobile device

• face-to-face interviews or focus groups
• nonparticipant observation
• contextual inquiry
• verbal protocol analysis (talk-aloud method)
• eye-tracking studies
• user testing or experiments

Blogger Profile: Glen Farrelly
Glen's experience in the Internet has covered the full spectrum from coding to content, and from planning to promotion. This gives him a unique ability to help direct a company’s online strategy, while also having the know-how to lead a project to successful completion.

Posted by Sue Ansell at November 19, 2012 5:45 AM

Categories: eLearning

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