Re: [Air-L] Missing Data in Qualitative and Online Research
I'd like to echo some of the comments made already. In my research on personal blogging, I found that the interviewees often mentioned 'backchannel' contact: via MSN in particular, but also emails and SMS. More recently Twitter has increased in significance, and DMs are the obvious backchannel there. Sometimes, edited MSN conversations are reproduced on a blog, using screenshots, and thus some missing data is ostensibly provided, but of course it's only what the blogger wants to blog about. Meeting bloggers offline in blogmeets was an important way of filling out some missing information: the hierarchies and clustering of bloggers were more evident; and seeing how those offline meets were re-presented online was an interesting window into the mediation of those encounters. Overall, as others have pointed out, the assumption that all online activity is public and available is a fallacy that should be addressed further. Cheers, Julian ++++++++++ Blog: www.julianhopkins.net Twitter: @julianhopkins Skype: julhop -----Original Message----- From: William Dutton <william.dutton@oii.ox.ac.uk> Subject: [Air-L] Missing Data in Qualitative and Online Research To: "air-l@listserv.aoir.org" <air-l@listserv.aoir.org> Date: Friday, August 6, 2010, 8:17 AM Dear List Members, My colleagues and I would greatly appreciate your input to an exploratory project on missing data in qualitative and online research.* We would appreciate anything from your immediate reactions while reading this e-mail to detailed references to literature that has addressed our questions. There are two very general but heuristically useful questions. Your views on either would be welcomed. Feel free to reply privately or to the list, as you wish. 1. What is ?missing data? in the context of qualitative research and how is it dealt with? 2. Likewise, in computer-mediated research, are researchers missing particular kinds of data, or believe that they are missing particular kinds of observations, and how are they compensating or otherwise addressing this gap? Thoughts? Thank you, Bill *This is a collaborative project between the ESRC?s National Centre for Research Methods (NCRM) ?hub? (Graham Crow, Rose Wiles), WISERD (Amanda Coffey), Oxford eSocial Science ?node? of NCeSS (Bill Dutton, Alison Powell), and Qualidata/Timescapes (Libby Bishop), based on our recognition of a shared but not well developed problem. William Dutton, Director Professor of Internet Studies Oxford Internet Institute 1 St Giles', Oxford OX1 3JS? UK e-mail: william.dutton at oii.ox.ac.uk Web: http://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/people/?id=1 Phone: +44 (0)1865 287 212 Cell: +44 (0)7768 823906 _______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/
Hi everybody, this thread is really very very interesting and I enjoy reading everyone's perspectives. I would like to comment in a more philosophical ontological level: Qualitative research doesn't aim to capture the whole picture or reach generalized conclusions but rather try to focus on one phenomenon/ one aspect etc. and trough this magnifying glass better comprehend the meaning of things. Therefore, it is more than obvious that qualitative research (as well as quantitative research) will always have missing data; as the starting point assumes that a qualitative researcher has subjective perception of the world and can never make objective choices. Accordingly, s/he makes subjective and aware choices affected by her/his cultural background, personality, interests etc. whereas another researcher will make other choices. This can be a much bigger problem in the huge ocean of Internet. Though I understand and have myself dealt with this practical problem of missing data (I research the subject of Israeli e-Politics), I try to bear in mind, that whatever methods I use and whatever empiric data I will collect, I can never grasp the complete wide picture, as every research, by its nature, illuminates a specific segment of reality. Nevertheless, even 'not complete' (partial) data analysis produces significant findings. Have a great week, cheers, Sharon. Best Wishes, Sharon Haleva Amir, HCLT Fellow (PhD Candidate) Faculty of Law, University of Haifa, ISRAEL. -------------------------------------------------- http://weblaw.haifa.ac.il/en/research/resstudents/pages/sharonha.aspx -----Original Message----- From: air-l-bounces@listserv.aoir.org [mailto:air-l-bounces@listserv.aoir.org] On Behalf Of Julian Hopkins Sent: Monday, August 09, 2010 6:52 AM To: air-l@listserv.aoir.org Subject: Re: [Air-L] Missing Data in Qualitative and Online Research I'd like to echo some of the comments made already. In my research on personal blogging, I found that the interviewees often mentioned 'backchannel' contact: via MSN in particular, but also emails and SMS. More recently Twitter has increased in significance, and DMs are the obvious backchannel there. Sometimes, edited MSN conversations are reproduced on a blog, using screenshots, and thus some missing data is ostensibly provided, but of course it's only what the blogger wants to blog about. Meeting bloggers offline in blogmeets was an important way of filling out some missing information: the hierarchies and clustering of bloggers were more evident; and seeing how those offline meets were re-presented online was an interesting window into the mediation of those encounters. Overall, as others have pointed out, the assumption that all online activity is public and available is a fallacy that should be addressed further. Cheers, Julian ++++++++++ Blog: www.julianhopkins.net Twitter: @julianhopkins Skype: julhop -----Original Message----- From: William Dutton <william.dutton@oii.ox.ac.uk> Subject: [Air-L] Missing Data in Qualitative and Online Research To: "air-l@listserv.aoir.org" <air-l@listserv.aoir.org> Date: Friday, August 6, 2010, 8:17 AM Dear List Members, My colleagues and I would greatly appreciate your input to an exploratory project on missing data in qualitative and online research.* We would appreciate anything from your immediate reactions while reading this e-mail to detailed references to literature that has addressed our questions. There are two very general but heuristically useful questions. Your views on either would be welcomed. Feel free to reply privately or to the list, as you wish. 1. What is ?missing data? in the context of qualitative research and how is it dealt with? 2. Likewise, in computer-mediated research, are researchers missing particular kinds of data, or believe that they are missing particular kinds of observations, and how are they compensating or otherwise addressing this gap? Thoughts? Thank you, Bill *This is a collaborative project between the ESRC?s National Centre for Research Methods (NCRM) ?hub? (Graham Crow, Rose Wiles), WISERD (Amanda Coffey), Oxford eSocial Science ?node? of NCeSS (Bill Dutton, Alison Powell), and Qualidata/Timescapes (Libby Bishop), based on our recognition of a shared but not well developed problem. William Dutton, Director Professor of Internet Studies Oxford Internet Institute 1 St Giles', Oxford OX1 3JS? UK e-mail: william.dutton at oii.ox.ac.uk Web: http://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/people/?id=1 Phone: +44 (0)1865 287 212 Cell: +44 (0)7768 823906 _______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/ _______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/
Hi all-- I, too, have found this thread very useful and just want to add a short comment to Sharon's post as it applies to qualitative internet research. She writes: Qualitative research doesn't aim to capture the whole picture or reach generalized conclusions but rather try to focus on one phenomenon/ one aspect etc. and trough this magnifying glass better comprehend the meaning of things. While qualitative research doesn't aim to generalize conclusions to populations, it does aim to generalize conclusions to theory. Then such theories can be pursued further qualitatively or quantitatively. Best, Pam Pamela Estes Brewer Assistant Professor Manager, STC Academic Special Interest Group Department of English Appalachian State University phone 828-262-2351 fax 828-262-2133 email brewerpe@appstate.edu Sharon Haleva Amir wrote:
Hi everybody, this thread is really very very interesting and I enjoy reading everyone's perspectives. I would like to comment in a more philosophical ontological level:
Qualitative research doesn't aim to capture the whole picture or reach generalized conclusions but rather try to focus on one phenomenon/ one aspect etc. and trough this magnifying glass better comprehend the meaning of things.
Therefore, it is more than obvious that qualitative research (as well as quantitative research) will always have missing data; as the starting point assumes that a qualitative researcher has subjective perception of the world and can never make objective choices. Accordingly, s/he makes subjective and aware choices affected by her/his cultural background, personality, interests etc. whereas another researcher will make other choices.
This can be a much bigger problem in the huge ocean of Internet.
Though I understand and have myself dealt with this practical problem of missing data (I research the subject of Israeli e-Politics), I try to bear in mind, that whatever methods I use and whatever empiric data I will collect, I can never grasp the complete wide picture, as every research, by its nature, illuminates a specific segment of reality. Nevertheless, even 'not complete' (partial) data analysis produces significant findings.
Have a great week, cheers, Sharon.
Best Wishes, Sharon Haleva Amir, HCLT Fellow (PhD Candidate) Faculty of Law, University of Haifa, ISRAEL. --------------------------------------------------
http://weblaw.haifa.ac.il/en/research/resstudents/pages/sharonha.aspx
-----Original Message----- From: air-l-bounces@listserv.aoir.org [mailto:air-l-bounces@listserv.aoir.org] On Behalf Of Julian Hopkins Sent: Monday, August 09, 2010 6:52 AM To: air-l@listserv.aoir.org Subject: Re: [Air-L] Missing Data in Qualitative and Online Research
I'd like to echo some of the comments made already. In my research on personal blogging, I found that the interviewees often mentioned 'backchannel' contact: via MSN in particular, but also emails and SMS. More recently Twitter has increased in significance, and DMs are the obvious backchannel there.
Sometimes, edited MSN conversations are reproduced on a blog, using screenshots, and thus some missing data is ostensibly provided, but of course it's only what the blogger wants to blog about.
Meeting bloggers offline in blogmeets was an important way of filling out some missing information: the hierarchies and clustering of bloggers were more evident; and seeing how those offline meets were re-presented online was an interesting window into the mediation of those encounters.
Overall, as others have pointed out, the assumption that all online activity is public and available is a fallacy that should be addressed further.
Cheers, Julian
++++++++++ Blog: www.julianhopkins.net Twitter: @julianhopkins Skype: julhop
-----Original Message-----
From: William Dutton <william.dutton@oii.ox.ac.uk> Subject: [Air-L] Missing Data in Qualitative and Online Research To: "air-l@listserv.aoir.org" <air-l@listserv.aoir.org> Date: Friday, August 6, 2010, 8:17 AM
Dear List Members,
My colleagues and I would greatly appreciate your input to an exploratory project on missing data in qualitative and online research.* We would appreciate anything from your immediate reactions while reading this e-mail to detailed references to literature that has addressed our questions.
There are two very general but heuristically useful questions. Your views on either would be welcomed. Feel free to reply privately or to the list, as you wish.
1. What is ?missing data? in the context of qualitative research and how is it dealt with?
2. Likewise, in computer-mediated research, are researchers missing particular kinds of data, or believe that they are missing particular kinds of observations, and how are they compensating or otherwise addressing this gap?
Thoughts? Thank you,
Bill
*This is a collaborative project between the ESRC?s National Centre for Research Methods (NCRM) ?hub? (Graham Crow, Rose Wiles), WISERD (Amanda Coffey), Oxford eSocial Science ?node? of NCeSS (Bill Dutton, Alison Powell), and Qualidata/Timescapes (Libby Bishop), based on our recognition of a shared but not well developed problem.
William Dutton, Director Professor of Internet Studies Oxford Internet Institute 1 St Giles', Oxford OX1 3JS? UK
e-mail: william.dutton at oii.ox.ac.uk Web: http://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/people/?id=1 Phone: +44 (0)1865 287 212 Cell: +44 (0)7768 823906
_______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/
_______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/
_______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/
participants (3)
-
Julian Hopkins -
Pam Brewer -
Sharon Haleva Amir