Social Science, General

 

Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 925:170-186 (2000)© 2000 New York Academy of Sciences

Ethical Issues in the Ethnography of Cyberspace

DAVID HAKKENa

 

The project of developing an anticipatory anthropology of the future reveals unique ethical opportunities. For example, the increased importance of performance means there is a substantial potential for a substantive "resocialing". of work in organizations, just as the decline of Modernism opens space for collective, situated ethics as opposed to individualized categorical imperatives. An anthropology of the future should address the question of the future of ethics in general. The very possibility of human agency, of informed individual moral action, is brought into question in new ways. The profound flexibility of the computer as a medium carries with it the dangers of hyper-abstraction, while the consolidation of capital reproduction on a global level increases the scope for apparently permanent mystification. Also important are the new ethical challenges raised for those engaged in knowledge "production" or science broadly conceived. These include the necessary effort to acknowledge fully the role of non-human agency, and the potentially profound possibilities in a transformation in the character of knowledge, a correlate, at least in part, of the commodification of knowledge associated with distance learning. These challenges accompany the more overt threats of transgenic entities and ecological degradation. How can one be an ethical intellectual or academic under these circumstances, let alone teach others to be? There are also some specific challenges facing anthropology in particular. Some derive from the increasing "privatization" of ethnography, both in its growing popularity in modes of social reproduction more directly implicated in the reproduction of capital and in the declining academic support for anthropology. In a very specific sense, anthropology has grounded its ethics on an appreciation of and support for the reproduction of "really existing" culture. This ethical compass is not available to the ethnographer who studies the future. How do we participate ethically in the construction of a future in whose character we are inevitably implicated?

 

 

Qualitative Research, Vol. 4, No. 2, 179-200 (2004)

DOI: 10.1177/1468794104044431

© 2004 SAGE Publications

Ethnography Online: ‘Natives’ Practising and Inscribing Community

Sarah N. Gatson

Amanda Zweerink

Texas A&M University and Mullen Advertising

 

The article is an analysis of the methodology used to study a community spawned from an Internet website devoted to a television serial. In the five and a half years the site was in existence, its real-time, linear, archived Posting Board spawned a community. Herein, we discuss how our work at the site offers insights into significant concepts in the practice of ethnography. In particular, we are concerned with such questions as: How much distance is necessary between the ethnographer and her site/subjects? Is distance necessary? Who is inscribing whom? We also discuss the generative problem of anonymity and how this concern has opened up our perceptions of ourselves and our field site.

 

 

The Internet and Opinion Measurement: Surveying Marginalized Populations

Koch, Nadine S.; Emrey, Jolly A.

Social Science Quarterly, vol. 82, no. 1, pp. 131-138, Mar 2001

 

Problems of self-selection, selection bias, & response rates have greatly limited the use & validity of online surveys. This study addresses those issues by examining population data for a group of Internet users who responded to a series of online surveys, enabling the calculation of both response rate & selection bias. A series of surveys were posted on a gay/lesbian Web site. We compare demographic data collected from our study sample with national data on gays/lesbians. A logistic regression model was used to determine if differences existed between participants & nonparticipants. The study sample of gays/lesbians comported well with the national sample. Demographic characteristics of those electing to participate in the surveys & nonparticipants are practically indistinguishable. The response rate to our online surveys was approximately 16.4%, similar to that in nontargeted mail surveys. The results indicate that, despite its limitations, the Internet can be a valuable medium in reaching populations difficult to identify using standard survey research techniques. 2 Tables, 11 References. Adapted from the source document.

 

 

Privacy Issues in Internet Surveys

Cho, Hyunyi; LaRose, Robert

Social Science Computer Review, vol. 17, no. 4, pp. 421-434, winter 1999

 

Surveys administered over the Internet have been plagued by low response rates &, at times, have provoked respondent rebellions against researchers who stand accused of broadcasting noxious unwanted e-mail or "spam." Here, the issue is examined from the perspective of social science research on privacy to understand the unique privacy context of Internet-based survey research. Online surveyors commit multiple violations of physical, informational, & psychological privacy that can be more intense than those found in conventional survey methods. Internet surveys also invade the interactional privacy of online communities, a form of privacy invasion seldom encountered with traditional survey methods. Recommendations for improving response rates to online surveys are offered, using accepted privacy protection practices already found on the Internet as well as emerging Internet technologies. 1 Table, 1 Figure, 76 References. Adapted from the source document.

 

 

Lotz, A. D., et. al., Toward Ethical Cyberspace Audience Research: Strategies for Using the Internet for Television Audience Studies. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media v. 48 no. 3 (September 2004) p. 501-1

 

This article examines the possibilities for qualitative audience study afforded by the Internet, carefully detailing both the benefits and dangers of such research. In answer to methodological issues resulting from online communication with subjects, the essay calls for the application of various feminist and anthropological methodological practices, and considers methodological dilemmas related to perceived privacy, natural data and lurking, informed consent procedures, balancing anonymity, and data accessibility. In the course of outlining methodological considerations especially salient when finding audiences through Internet spaces, we reflect on our own dilemmas in designing studies that meet the ethical standards of feminist methodology. Reprinted by permission of the publisher.

 

 

SHOOT FIRST, ASK QUESTIONS LATER: ETHNOGRAPHIC RESEARCH IN AN ONLINE COMPUTER GAMING COMMUNITY. By: Morris, Sue. Media International Australia Incorporating Culture & Policy, Feb2004 Issue 110, p31-41, 11p; (AN 12632970)

 

For researchers investigating online communities, the existence of the Internet has made the activities and opinions of community members visible in a public domain. FPS gaming culture is a highly literate culture - members communicate and represent themselves in textual forms online, and the culture makes use of a wide variety of communication and publishing technologies. While a significant amount o/'insider knowledge is required to understand and interpret such online content, a large body of material is available to researchers online, and sometimes provides more reliable and enlightening information than that generated by more traditional research methods. While the abundance of data available online in some ways makes research far easier, it also creates new dilemmas and challenges for researchers. What extra knowledge is required of the researcher? How can one ensure that one interpretations of member statements are made with an understanding of meaning within that culture? What responsibilities does the researcher have in their representation of the culture under examination? What ethical issues must be considered? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

 

 

Denscombe, M

Research ethics and the governance of research projects: the potential of Internet home pages

SOCIOL RES ONLINE 10 (3): - SEP 30 2005

 

Abstract: This paper explores the potential of research project Home Pages in relation to the growing need for good governance of research projects. In particular, the paper considers the benefits such web pages might have in terms of research ethics and argues that research project Home Pages can provide a very straightforward, practical means of addressing a number of ethical issues related to both on-line and off-line research. Limitations to the use of research project Home Pages are also discussed and conclusions are drawn about the value of establishing appropriately designed research project Home Pages as an integral component of social research protocols.

 

 

Avatar watching: participant observation in graphical online environments

Matthew Williams

School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University

 

Increasingly, social science researchers are turning to the internet to study forms of ‘virtual’ culture. In tandem there has been a degree of trepidation and innovation in the application of research methodology to the online arena. As its focus this article takes the application of participant observation to the virtual field. Drawing upon narratives elicited from community members of an online graphical social space, methodological questions are raised about the viability of a ‘virtual ethnography’, while a more practical discussion focuses upon the re-engineering of participant observation for operation in an online pseudo-physical field. The impact of graphical pseudo-presence, avatar representation, physical online boundaries and multiple online sites upon the practice of participant observation are examined. The article concludes that the advent of new broadband technologies and the expansion of graphical online environments require online methods that are both responsive and adaptive in order to elicit reliable and valid data from rapidly changing online environments.

 

 

 

Social Science Computer Review, Vol. 22, No. 2, 228-241 (2004)

DOI: 10.1177/0894439303262561

© 2004 SAGE Publications

Using the Online Medium for Discursive Research About People With Disabilities

Natilene Bowker

Massey University N.Bowker@massey.ac.nz

Keith Tuffin

Massey University K.Tuffin@massey.ac.nz

 

Online interviews are deemed an effective and appropriate approach for accessing discourse about the online experiences of people with disabilities. Some of the central arguments in support of conducting discursive research online, a type of qualitative approach, are delineated. Various practical benefits are considered for researchers, as well as participants—especially those with disabilities. Ethical issues surrounding access to, and the analysis of, readily available data in online communities are brought to the fore. In light of ethical dilemmas surrounding naturalistic data collection online, an alternative approach is offered, which utilizes online interviews with people with disabilities about their online experiences. A description of the data-collection process is given, including participants and recruitment, materials and procedures, rapport building, and security and ethics. Reflections on the process highlight how methodological pitfalls were managed and, in some cases, resolved.

 

 

Qualitative Research, Vol. 5, No. 4, 395-416 (2005)

DOI: 10.1177/1468794105056916

© 2005 SAGE Publications

Researching online populations: the use of online focus groups for social research

Kate Stewart

Cardiff University, Stewartkf@cardiff.ac.uk

Matthew Williams

Cardiff University, WilliamsM7@cardiff.ac.uk

 

The survivability of ‘traditional’ methods within computer-mediated settings is dependent upon their capacity to be utilized and adapted to the technology that mediates human interaction online. This article addresses the established focus group method and evaluates its success in online applications, using as examples two quite different research projects. The first, drawn from research into the employment experiences of inflammatory bowel disease sufferers exemplifies the use of asynchronous online focus groups, identifying key practical issues such as online moderation and the analysis of digital data. In contrast the second study, into deviance within online communities, provides an example of how synchronous forms of online focus groups, held within 3D graphical environments, create further challenges for the researcher, highlighting unique ethical considerations of conducting fieldwork in cyberspace. The article draws together the authors’ experiences of applying the method to offer insights into the viability and practicability of online focus groups.

 

 

A code to keep away judges, juries and MPs. By: Iphofen, Ron. Times Higher Education Supplement, 1/16/2004 Issue 1623, p24-24, 1p; (AN 12280872)

 

Discusses the need for social scientists to regulate the ethics of their research or having rules imposed on them in Great Britain. Ethical complexities posed by the internet research that blurs the boundary between public and private behavior; Review of ethical guidelines of the Human Rights Act; System of research governance that is open to public security; Influence of institutional fear of litigation on research.

 

 

Hakken D.

Ethical issues in the ethnography of cyberspace.

Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2000;925:170-86. Review.

PMID: 11193012 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

 

The project of developing an anticipatory anthropology of the future reveals unique ethical opportunities. For example, the increased importance of performance means there is a substantial potential for a substantive "resocialing" of work in organizations, just as the decline of Modernism opens space for collective, situated ethics as opposed to individualized categorical imperatives. An anthropology of the future should address the question of the future of ethics in general. The very possibility of human agency, of informed individual moral action, is brought into question in new ways. The profound flexibility of the computer as a medium carries with it the dangers of hyper-abstraction, while the consolidation of capital reproduction on a global level increases the scope for apparently permanent mystification. Also important are the new ethical challenges raised for those engaged in knowledge "production" or science broadly conceived. These include the necessary effort to acknowledge fully the role of non-human agency, and the potentially profound possibilities in a transformation in the character of knowledge, a correlate, at least in part, of the commodification of knowledge associated with distance learning. These challenges accompany the more overt threats of transgenic entities and ecological degradation. How can one be an ethical intellectual or academic under these circumstances, let alone teach others to be? There are also some specific challenges facing anthropology in particular. Some derive from the increasing "privatization" of ethnography, both in its growing popularity in modes of social reproduction more directly implicated in the reproduction of capital and in the declining academic support for anthropology. In a very specific sense, anthropology has grounded its ethics on an appreciation of and support for the reproduction of "really existing" culture. This ethical compass is not available to the ethnographer who studies the future. How do we participate ethically in the construction of a future in whose character we are inevitably implicated?

 

 

 

Research ethics in Internet-enabled research: Human subjects issues and methodological myopia

Joseph B. Walther. Ethics and Information Technology. Dordrecht: 2002. Vol. 4, Iss. 3; p. 205

 

Abstract (Summary)

As Internet resources are used more frequently for research on social and psychological behavior, concerns grow about whether characteristics of such research affect human subjects protections. Early efforts to address such concerns have done more to identify potential problems than to evaluate them or to seek solutions, leaving bodies charged with human subjects oversight in a quagmire. This article critiques some of these issues in light of the US Code of Federal Regulations' policies for the Protection of Human Subjects, and argues that some of the issues have no pertinence when examined in the context of common methodological approaches that previous commentators failed to consider. By separating applicable contexts from those that are not, and by identifying cases where subjects' characteristics are irrelevant and/or impossible to provide, oversight committees may be able to consider research applications more appropriately, and investigators may be less ethically bound to ascertain and demonstrate those characteristics. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]

 

 

What is special about the ethical issues in online research?

Dag Elgesem. Ethics and Information Technology. Dordrecht: 2002. Vol. 4, Iss. 3; p. 195

 

Abstract (Summary)

In the analysis of the ethical problems of online research, there is much to be learned from the work that has already been done on research ethics in the social sciences and the humanities. I discuss the structure of norms in the Norwegian ethical guidelines for research in the social sciences with respect to their relevance for the ethical issues of Internet research. A four-step procedure for the ethical evaluation of research is suggested. I argue that even though, at one level, the problems of online research are very similar to those we find in traditional areas of social scientific research, there still are some issues that are unique to research online. A general model for the analysis of privacy and data protection is suggested. This model is then used to characterize the special problems pertaining to the protection of privacy in online contexts, and to argue that one cannot assume a simple distinction between the private and the public when researching in such contexts. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]

 

 

 

Hamilton, J. C. The ethics of conducting social-science research on the Internet. The Chronicle of Higher Education v. 46 no. 15 (December 3 1999) p. B6-7

 

Efforts by researchers to understand the implications of research on the Internet and to develop guidelines for its responsible use have not kept up with the rapid growth of this new methodology. Although institutional review boards (IRB) usually save researchers from ethical lapses, some online research is being conducted without their required approval, and they may be ill-equipped to evaluate certain studies. Guidelines are required to help researchers and IRB members ensure that online research is both scientifically and ethically sound.

 

 

 

Lindlof, T. R., et. al., Media ethnology in virtual space: strategies, limits, and possibilities. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media v. 42 no. 2 (Spring 1998) p. 170-89

 

For more than twenty years, ethnography has been used to study audience interpretation and social action. With the advent of the Internet, this approach is now being applied to the cultural practices of computer-mediated communication. This article appraises some strategies for studying a new cultural arena in which aspects of embodiment and identity differ significantly from traditional media reception. Four areas of ethnographic engagement with virtual contexts are examined: the nature and boundaries of virtual community, the social presence of participation, social strategies of entry and membership, and technical utilities of data generation. Ethical issues and future possibilities for research are also discussed. Reprinted by permission of the publisher.

 

 

How to launch a national Internet-based panel study quickly: lessons from studying how American are coping with the tragedy of September 11, 2001? (eng; includes abstract) By Butler LD, CNS Spectrums [CNS Spectr], 2002 Aug; Vol. 7 (8), pp. 597-603; PMID: 15094696

 

 

This article reports on the planning, development, and implementation of a large national Internet-based panel study of how Americans are coping with the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The study was designed to determine predictors and correlates of risk and resilience, both cross-sectionally and longitudinally. In order to acquire timely and meaningful data, we developed/adapted an extensive set of measures, obtained human subjects approval, and posted a research Web site just 17 days after the attacks. This article describes the major hurdles we confronted and the guidelines we recommend regarding these topics, including the methodological trade-offs inherent in Internet-based research, information technology requirements and tribulations, human subjects issues, selection of measures and securing permission for their use, and the challenges of participant recruitment. We also discuss issues that we did not anticipate, including the survey intervention. We focus not on findings, but on the concrete procedural, administrative, technical, and scientific challenges we encountered and the solutions we devised under considerable time and resource pressures.

 

 

Buchanan EA.

Ethics, qualitative research, and ethnography in virtual space.

J Infor Ethics. 2000 Fall;9(2):82-7. No abstract available.

PMID: 12530453 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

 

NO ABSTRACT

 

 

Acting Ethically in Online Ethnography

A BRIEF OUTLINE OF ISSUES AND TECHNIQUES

Kylie J. Veale

Department of Media and Information

Curtin University of Technology

09 May 2002

http://www.veale.com.au/kylie/pdf/veale-2003-actingethicallyonlineethnography.pdf

 

This report is to outline some key ethical considerations for online ethnography and to explore what other researchers have done or suggested to mitigate any issues

 

 

Progress in Human Geography, Vol. 31, No. 5, 654-674 (2007)

DOI: 10.1177/0309132507081496

© 2007 SAGE Publications

Developing a geographers' agenda for online research ethics

Clare Madge

Department of Geography, University of Leicester, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK, cm12@le.ac.uk

 

This paper explores and advances the debate surrounding online research ethics. The use of internet-mediated research using online research methods has increased significantly in recent years raising the issue of online research ethics. Obviously, many ethical issues of onsite research are directly translatable to the online context, but there is also a need for existing ethical principles to be examined in the light of these new virtual research strategies. Five key issues of ethical conduct are commonly identified in the literature pertaining to online research ethics: informed consent, confidentiality, privacy, debriefing and netiquette. These are the issues that are most commonly discussed in procedural ethical guidelines for online research. However, this paper proposes that given the recent increased formal regulation and research governance over research ethics in many countries, it is important that discussion of such issues continues as an embedded part of professional self-regulation and procedural ethical guidelines are used as creative forums for reflexive debate rather than simply being routinely applied by bureaucratic ethics committees. Finally, in problematizing the role of procedural online ethical guidelines, the conclusions explore how geographers can contribute to the future debate about online research ethics

 

 

 

Stern, Susannah R. (2003). Encountering distressing information in online research: A consideration of legal and ethical responsibilities. New Media & Society. 5 (2, June), 249-266.

 

This article explores the reasons why Internet researchers should contemplate their responsibility for encountering distressing disclosure in the course of their online research. 'Distressing' disclosure refers specifically to information that indicates an online communicant is considering harming him/herself or another/others (e.g. online users' announcements of suicide intentions, threats to kill another person, etc). Given both the nature of online communication and research, those who study Internet users and communities may find themselves particularly likely to come across distressing information in their research. Using personal homepages as a case in point, this article inquires: are researchers legally accountable for reacting in some way to the distressing online self-disclosure of those they study? Absent a legal responsibility, do researchers have any ethical or moral obligation to intervene? If an ethical responsibility does suggest itself, what are the barriers to intervention? Finally, how might online researchers prepare themselves for their encounters with distressing self-disclosure?

 

 

Kleinman, S. S. Methodological and ethical challenges of researching a computer-mediated group. In: Using the Internet as a research tool for social work and human services. Haworth Press, 2002

 

NO ABSTRACT

 

Challenging Methodological Traditions: Research by Email

Resource Location: http://www.nova.edu/ssss/QR/QR8-1/mcauliffe.html

The Qualitative Report, Volume 8, Number 1 March 2003

 

Engaging human service practitioners as partners in research about sensitive areas of front-line work can be difficult for a range of reasons. Time constraints, geographic limitations, trust in the research relationship, issues of privacy, and fear of professional judgment are only some of the barriers that researchers need to overcome in order to assist workers to become involved in a reflective process about areas of practice. This article outlines the development of a new method of qualitative data collection designed to aid the reflective process and assist practitioners to engage in an ongoing dialogue about complex ethical dilemmas they had experienced in relation to their work with clients, colleagues, managers and organisations. These ethical dilemmas occurred in the contexts of health, mental health, child protection, work with young people, community work, disability, family violence, aged care and research. This is the story of how the concept of Email-Facilitated Reflective Dialogue was born. It is the story of how Email-Facilitated Reflective Dialogue became a method of data generation and a tool for reflection on issues of ethics, how twenty social workers throughout Australia experienced it as a reflective medium, and how we, as partners in research, experienced and evaluated the process.

 

 

Multilingualism, diaspora, and the Internet: Codes and identities on German-based diaspora websites

Androutsopoulos, Jannis

Journal of Sociolinguistics, 2006, 10, 4, Sep, 520-547

 

The use of the Internet in diaspora has attracted considerable interest in media and cultural studies, but little attention has been paid to sociolinguistic issues. This paper is a study of linguistic diversity on websites maintained for and by members of diaspora groups in Germany. Based on online ethnography and an interpretive approach to code-switching, the paper explores the relationships between language choices and the complex architecture of these websites, which offer edited content as well as spaces for user interaction. Language choice in edited sections, patterns of code-switching in discussion forums, and language choice for user screen names and message signatures are examined. The findings demonstrate how code choices are tailored to the requirements of different modes within a website, and how various codes are creatively employed to display and negotiate identities that are related to the diaspora and its virtual discursive spaces. Tables, Figures, References. Adapted from the source document

 

 

Investigating Cybersociety: A Consideration of the Ethical and Practical Issues Surrounding Online Research in Chat Rooms (From Dot.cons: Crime, Deviance and Identity on the Internet, P 164-179, 2003, Yvonne Jewkes, ed. -- See NCJ-199525) ,  NCJ 199535.  Andy DiMarco, Heather DiMarco;  2003(16 pages). 

 

 

One of the primary ethical issues in online ethnographic research concerns what constitutes public and private material in chat rooms. Although interactions in the main chat room can be claimed to form part of the public domain, messages sent by one chatter to another as one-to-one messages are another matter. Researchers who may pursue such a private interaction without disclosing the purpose of the conversation and requesting permission to use it in research available to the public would betray confidences. On the other hand, if the researchers disclose their intentions and request permission for inclusion of conversation content in a research report, this may change the tone and content of the interaction. This chapter suggests guidelines for conducting research (especially covert) in chat rooms in a safe and responsible manner; these guidelines have been adapted from Hamman, 1997. First, when entering a chat room, provide the information asked for by the host. Second, only ask questions that occur as a natural part of the interaction, and do not attempt to direct or lead the conversation in any specific way. Third, do not instigate private interaction with a chat room member, but if anyone should request it of the researcher, it is acceptable to respond. Fourth, whenever possible, chat rooms should only be entered when the researcher is alone and in a place where he/she cannot be observed; it is important that the information received be used for research and only for that purpose. Fifth, if at any time the researcher feels uncomfortable with the conversation or that others are uncomfortable or intimidated by the researcher's presence in the chat room, the conversation can be terminated, or the researcher can exit the chat room. Finally, if the researcher is using a computer owned by a university or other institution, make research intentions clear to the tutor or supervisor and follow the institution's guidelines regarding online activity. A chat room glossary is provided.

 

 

Cyberpunters and Cyberwhores: Prostitution on the Internet (From Dot.cons: Crime, Deviance and Identity on the Internet, P 36-52, 2003, Yvonne Jewkes, ed. -- See NCJ-199525) ,  NCJ 199528.  Keith Sharp, Sarah Earle;  2003(17 pages). 

 

In discussing the types of Web sites dedicated, in one way or another, to prostitution, the most obvious are noted to be sites that market the services of prostitutes. These include "escort agencies," which tend to be regional and operate at the "upper" end of the market; "independents," women who advertise sexual services on the Internet but do not work for or through an agency; and "massage parlors," which typically focus on an establishment and contain photographs of the facilities offered. Another significant category of prostitution-related material on the Internet are the various Web sites dedicated to reviewing the services of individual prostitutes. In the United Kingdom, this category is dominated by one site, "Punternet," which contains over 5,000 "reviews" of British prostitutes. In presenting the authors' analysis of this site, this chapter first provides a detailed account of the Punternet site itself and explores some of the methodological issues and concerns associated with this type of covert cyber-ethnography. It then explores "punting" as a transgressive act and documents some of the ways in which punters seek to minimize the risks to social identity and the ways in which participation in this type of cyber-community serves to normalize what would otherwise be considered a transgression. This is followed by a focus on men's concerns with giving women pleasure during paid-for-sex. This analysis concludes that the Internet allows anonymous men who use prostitutes to communicate with one another, share practical information, and develop a virtual subculture of communication and values in which paying for sex and discussing women as sexual objects is the norm.

 

Web Surveys: Applications in Denominational Research 

Sims, RC 

REVIEW OF RELIGIOUS RESEARCH; VOL 49; NUMB 1; pp. 69-80; 2007

 

NO ABSTRACT