In addition to the points that Louis made below, it is worth considering that many people with a public internet presence are busy and receive numerous Emails. I suspect that most requests to these busy people would just be erased regardless of the potential participants desire or lack thereof to be included in a study. The result would be a sample that is not representative. Charlie Balch -----Original Message----- Quoting Lois Ann Scheidt I readily admit that I have an underlying belief that shows through all of my discussion. My belief is that by requiring "informed consent" for all social science research that we would limit researchers participant pools to those that will volunteer for a study. Again that takes me very close to experimental research. And while there is nothing at all wrong with experimental research as a method, I don't believe it gets us to the real hows and whys of human behavior. I am an explanatory researcher, without the ability to study "in the wild" I might as well pack up my toys and go home.