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Internet Inquiry
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Internet Inquiry
Conversations About Method

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July 2008 | 264 pages | SAGE Publications, Inc
Internet Inquiry takes readers into the minds of top internet researchers as they discuss how they have worked through critical challenges as they research online social environments. Rather than providing single "how to" answers, this book presents distinctive and divergent viewpoints on how to think about and conduct qualitative internet studies. The various chapters illustrate that good research choices are not random but are deliberate, studied, and internally consistent.
Nancy Baym, Annette Markham
Introduction: Making Smart Choices on Shifting Ground
Christine Hine, Lori Kendall, danah boyd
1. How can qualitative internet researchers define the boundaries of their projects?
Shani Orgad, Maria Bakardjieva, Radhika Gajjala
2. How can researchers make sense of the issues involved in collecting and interpreting online and offline data?
Malin Sveningsson Elm, Elizabeth A. Buchanan, Susannah R. Stern
3. How do various notions of privacy influence decisions in qualitative internet research?
Lori Kendall, Jenny Sunden, John Edward Campbell
4. How do issues of gender and sexuality influence the structures and processes of qualitative internet research?
Annette Markham, Elaine Lally, Ramesh Srinivasan
5. How can qualitative researchers produce work that is meaningful across time, space, and culture?
Nancy Baym, Annette Markham
6. What constitutes quality in qualitative internet research?

The volume is a great introduction to some of the core and common issues that come up when researchers start using internet inquiry as a methodological strategy.

Dr Tiago Lapa
Sociology , ISCTE-IUL
October 5, 2015

One of the best overviews of the particularities of internet research I have seen, that is clear and accessible to students of all levels.

Dr Adrienne Shaw
Media Studies and Production, Temple University
July 29, 2013

Very interesting book but not really suited for a Masters course.

I would still recommend it as supplemental reading.

Mr Ajay Bailey
Population Research Centre, University of Groningen, Groningen University (RuG)
June 19, 2012

In my opinion, one of the best texts available for those undertaking internet research from undergraduate through to postgraduate study. Excellent

Ms Julia Kennedy
Faculty of Art, University College Falmouth
May 30, 2012

A useful resource for people considering using the Internet in their research

Dr Carol Bond
Institute of Health and Community Studies, Bournemouth University
January 12, 2010

This will be an invaluable resource for the appropriate methods section of the course. Clearly written and accessible for undergraduates.

Mr Clive McGoun
The Faculty of Health, Social Care & Education, Manchester Metropolitan University
December 3, 2009

Sample Materials & Chapters

Question 1

Question 2

Question 3


Annette Markham

Annette N. Markham is a senior research fellow in the Center for Information Policy Research at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, researching the connection between method and ethics and conducting research of decision making processes in institutional review boards. She is also a senior development specialist for the State of Wisconsin, working with subject matter experts in the corrections system to design ethically-grounded online training. Her primary research focuses on ethical practices in qualitative internet research and sensemaking in technologically-mediated spaces. Her book Life online: Researching real experience in... More About Author

Nancy K. Baym

Nancy Baym is an Associate Professor of Communication Studies at the University of Kansas. She has written many widely-cited articles about online fan community and social aspects of online interaction and is the author of the book Tune In, Log On: Soaps, Fandom, and Online Community (Sage Press, Inc.). She is a co-founder and Past-President of the Association of Internet Researchers. She is an award-winning teacher whose courses address the use of new communication technologies in creating identities, relationships and communities, interpersonal communication, and qualitative research methods. She serves on the editorial boards of the... More About Author