Hi Angela,

I agree with what Jennifer wrote.  Additionally, here are some thoughts. 

In essence I am carrying out online discussions in a chat room environment. The room has been set up by myself and only people taking part in the discussion are present. The problem I am being faced with is that of the internet and 'lying'.

First, lying is possible in any setting, as you've noted.  Having said that, however, the internet does provide good opportunity for it.  Whether this fact is important or not depends in great part on the research question you're trying to ask. Are you using the chatroom as a convenient way to do focus group interaction?   Or are you interviewing these people in context, with some goal of trying to understand their performance of identity online, the way they play with language and identity, the way they interact in this setting, etc.

Another way to get at this issue is to ask:  Are you doing research OF the internet or are you USING the internet as a methods tool for your research?  (borrowing from Mann and Stewart here)

It is suggested by those with more knowledge than I that the methodology is rubbish

I love your sentence here, but the methodology of interviewing in chatrooms is not rubbish.  Again, it all depends on the goal of your research and the specific questions you're trying to explore.

as I cannot possibly tell if those taking part are lying, due to lack of body language.
I contested this by pointing out that people can lie in face to face discussion also and it may be difficult to pick up on. Also it is my opinion that people in a familiar environment (ie at their own pc) may in actual fact be more at ease and this will therefore lead to a more honest response. Of course as a lowly honours student my opinion is worthless, so it is this that I need help with.
You're definitely on the right track here:  Internet communication highlights both the absence and performance of socio-emotional cues, nonverbal language, and so forth.  This feature of computer mediated communication is a good reminder of our limitations in any research setting to assess accurately the extent to which a participant is lying or not with. 

Along the same lines, "honesty" may not be the best criteria to use to assess the quality of responses, content of responses, or the respondents themselves.  Lived experience may never be truly honest....and who are the judges?  Surely not us researchers!  Maybe delve more deeply and ask yourself what you're really trying to get at by doing this study.  If you're trying to understand how people perform and enact their everyday lives,  you can only go by what they say and perform.  And any interpretation you conduct will be through your own perspective and way of representing them. A different criteria for validating, qualifying, or otherwise justifying your interpretation as credible or good might be useful.

If you're trying to understand how they really feel about some issue, and you're using the internet as a convenient interviewing tool, I recommend Mann and Stewart's book on Internet Research.

In any case, it's worth the time to consider what is meant by "lying" anyway, which is part of what Jennifer is getting at in her response.

Again, you may be able to more clearly defend your method by asking if it's a good fit with the question you're trying to get at. 

Does anyone have any solid research I can justify this methodology with? I already have a few good links courtesy of the sociopranos board, but any further assistance would be great!
Again, Mann and Stewart's book useful.  Also, frankly, any good contemporary methodology text that discusses interpretive qualitative methods and addresses issues of knowing and representation would be useful. 

Another recommendation: Denzin and Lincoln's Handbook of Qualitative Research.

Then, here's a link to an early draft of a chapter I've written that will be forthcoming in the spring (in Online Social Research: Methods, Issues, and Ethics, editors Sarina Chen, Jon Hall, and Mark Johns). You might find some points or sources useful. http://ascend.comm.uic.edu/~amarkham/lectures/markhamDRAFT.htm

Good luck with your project,

Annette


Annette N. Markham, Ph.D.
Department of Communication
University of Illinois at Chicago
1007 W. Harrison St. (m/c 132)
Chicago, IL  60607-7137

Tel:  312-413-2124
amarkham@uic.edu

Life Online:  Researching Real Experiences in Virtual Space
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