Week 10) Research and the Internet Flashcards
When was the “age of the internet? “
1990s
Pre 1940s how long did the mail take to send from Aust to UK?
a month sea voyage
How did messaging change after 1990s?
Pre 1990s snail mail (the ordinary postal system as opposed to email)
Post 1990s
• Rapid transmission of information through airmail
• Global communication
• Internet then skype so can talk to ppl in real time.
Top 3 languages used most commonly on the internet?
1) English
2) Chinese
3) Japanese
What are the two most popular academic publishing languages?
English then chinese (note english still more respected)
How has the internet helped psychological research with getting participants?
Used to have blackboards and sign up for an experiment now SONA
How has the internet changed data collection?
avoiding paper & pencil; automatic test scoring including:
• Online surveys
• Experiments (researcher present/absent)
What is the most common software for data collection online now?
QUALTRIX
Really easy data collection tool. Can set up open ended q, text boxes, multiple choice q, images, sound files can be presented to participants. not the best though for like speed times etc for perception studies.
What is the online clinical treatment process called?
eTherapy
Good cos many ppl need treatment that may not want
to go face to face to a clinic e.g. agoraphobia etc.
Also good for ppl in rural areas needing treatment.
Online.
What new research opps have arrived through arrival of internet? (2)
- Study of ‘online’ behaviour eg. identity, cyber-bullying, cyber-societies, Facebook
- New domain for behaviours e.g. ppl who have really niche hobbies for instance, ppl might be less isolated than they were without internet, cos can find like minded ppl. Also an area of interest in psychology.
What are the advantages of online studies?
- Invitation to participate via email
- Email & snowball sampling (snowballing = when subjects recruit more subjects from their friends, and participant number snowballs and gets bigger).
- Global participation
- 24 hour data collection
- ‘Democratised data collection’:
- Equality in research accessibility
- No need to have special access to 1st year participants
- Large, diverse sample at low cost (NO RISK OF WEIRD SAMPLES - western, educated, industrialised, rich, democratic societies
- Can focus on specific groups (eg. findings stepparents via online stepparent forums)
- Access to archival material
- Historical records
- Digital transactions
- Quantitative & qualitative material
- Potentially LESS experimenter bias (not coming f2f with participant online).
- Limited Ss in laboratory; Multiple Ss online
- Automated & flexible delivery
- Internet more familiar & interesting (younger Ss); increased motivation eg. immersion scenarios to replace standard (paper & pencil) questionnaires
- Can also pay Qualtrix where they will
recruit your participants for you. Good can
also state if you want your participants to be say
female and unemployed etc.
Research ethical advantages?
- Anonymity & increased self-revelation via online research
- Sometimes less effort/cost for Ss (eg. completing surveys in one’s own home); more likely to participate
- Decreased social pressure & greater freedom to withdraw (ie. easier to quit). Usually social pressure to continue in person.
Disadvantages for online studies?
- Sample biases & generalisability
- Non-response bias & drop out (less social pressure to continue like f2f).
- Lack of control over data-collection setting
- Researcher absent: difficult to monitor reasonable performance; difficult to verify Ss identities, age, gender, etc; difficult to verify if Ss have understood the instructions; Ss may simply invest less energy (cf. social facilitation theory)
- Malicious intent & impunity (ppl messing up your study on purpose)
- Data in transit: security issues
- Technology failures
- Technology compatibility
- Multiple submissions
- Internet access/computer speed
- Type/size of browser/monitor; iPhones etc
- Researchers need to become greater technology experts
Online, there are many threats to data quality (validity and reliability). What are some solutions to this?
- Pilot & pretest
- Collect data from ‘trustworthy’ source and internet sample for comparison
- Good management of Ss (eg. recording IP addresses to avoid multiple submission; motivation incentives)
increased risks of envionmental effects.
e.g. if youre in a lab ,you can control environment.
If online they could be drunk, on the train distracted, many distractions possibly. how to get away with this?
can do a small amount face to face and
then much more online.
So yes quality of data worse online but it is made up
for by the fact they can get bigger sample sizes much bigger.
What are the ethical disadvantages of doing a study online?
- Ethical ambiguity (eg. observing naturally occurring online behaviour)
- Kraut et al (2004):
- Harm resulting from direct participation
- Ethics & debriefing (eg. what if online Ss become distressed?) e.g. online you dont even know if someone became distressed. youd want to ideally send some support services.
- Breaches of confidentiality e.g. if youre getting your info from online forums like studying transgenders. They havent actually confirmed you can use their experiences in your study.
