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The Internet Matters: Exploring the Use of the Internet as a Research Tool

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  • Nicola Illingworth

Abstract

The arrival of the virtual realm and computer mediated communication (CMC) continues to attract considerable interest from a wide range of disciplines. Hine (2000) has suggested that previously negative understandings of CMC have been transcended. The virtual realm is now welcomed as a site for richer and more sustained interaction than previously envisaged. For the research community, the rapid development of the World Wide Web has opened new horizons and provided access to a new frontier and tool for data collection. The researcher can now engage in research on a world-wide, low cost, almost instantaneous scale - and in ways which potentially overcome some of the barriers imposed by more conventional research approaches. However, this somewhat idealistic view obscures both methodological and ethical difficulties that have become apparent throughout this research. If these difficulties are left unchecked, they may serve to undermine the use of the Internet as a tool for social research. The primary aim of this paper is to expose these difficulties and thus broaden the scope of discourse surrounding the Internet. A secondary aim is to explore the implications of the use of the Internet for the feminist methodological and research project. My aim here is to problematise the transference of existing methodological frameworks to an online setting. In this respect, I have presented this paper in the form of a research trajectory, outlining the course of my research from its conception to latter stages. The intention here is to suggest an avoidance of 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 the 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.

Suggested Citation

  • Nicola Illingworth, 2001. "The Internet Matters: Exploring the Use of the Internet as a Research Tool," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 6(2), pages 79-90, August.
  • Handle: RePEc:sae:socres:v:6:y:2001:i:2:p:79-90
    DOI: 10.5153/sro.600
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. R. Coomber, 1997. "Using the Internet for Survey Research," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 2(2), pages 49-58, June.
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    Cited by:

    1. Valeria Lo Iacono & Paul Symonds & David H.K. Brown, 2016. "Skype as a Tool for Qualitative Research Interviews," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 21(2), pages 103-117, May.
    2. Will Gibson & Peter Callery & Malcolm Campbell & Andy Hall & Dave Richards, 2005. "The Digital Revolution in Qualitative Research: Working with Digital Audio Data through Atlas. Ti," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 10(1), pages 57-68, June.
    3. Danny Beusch, 2007. "Textual Interaction as Sexual Interaction: Sexuality And/in the Online Interview," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 12(5), pages 18-30, September.
    4. Nicola Illingworth, 2006. "Content, Context, Reflexivity and the Qualitative Research Encounter: Telling Stories in the Virtual Realm," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 11(1), pages 62-73, April.
    5. Adrian Lee, 2008. "Finding the Way to the End of the Rainbow: A Researcher's Insight Investigating British Older Gay Men's Lives," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 13(1), pages 90-103, January.
    6. Fox, Nick & Ward, Katie J., 2008. "You are what you eat? Vegetarianism, health and identity," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 66(12), pages 2585-2595, June.
    7. Stef Adriaenssens & Giulia Garofalo Geymonat & Laura Oso, 2016. "Quality of Work in Prostitution and Sex Work. Introduction to the Special Section," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 21(4), pages 121-132, November.
    8. N/A, 2004. "Christine Hine (2004) ‘Social Research Methods and the Internet: A Thematic Review’," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 9(2), pages 110-116, May.

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