Teaching Survey Methodology on the WWW [developing the thread]
Dear all Am very interested in these questions of methodology. At Curtin University we are currently developing a unit (course in US-speak) entitled Internet Studies 306/506 - Cyberanalytics It aims to teach both some practical techniques of online survey methodology, and some more conceptual knowledge about the problems/advantages of surveying. It's part of our attempt to created a fused currriculum in which there is sufficient responsiveness to the demands (in Australia at least) for 'practical' studies, as well as a commitment to the critical, analytical positions traditionally associated with the humanities old and new. The most likely 6 areas of concentration are... (1) online survey design (focusing on the items, etc rather than the technical implementation) (2) online focus groups (analysing the debate for and against them) (3) analysis of website server logs (hence the name cyberanalytics) (4) research design - how to formulate hypotheses, testability, method selection etc (5) virtual ethnography and (6) critical analysis of the differences and overlaps offline / online with special reference to ethical issues I'll happily share the final currriculum when finished...anyone care to contribute further by suggesting... what we've missed or underemphasised what business/industry needs from graduates in Internet Studies how we might teach these in innovative ways whether these kinds of courses are valuable or not Matt
participants (1)
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Matthew Allen