Case Studies

What's good/bad about case studies when technology is concerned?

Case studies can often feel one sided and more slanted if the researcher is not entirely careful. They provide a valuable tool though. The tool of story telling. If case studies are completed rigorously they can provide a more satisfying and persuasive account of the researchers story. I believe that the use of technology really assists the rigor of the story. Due to the nature of technology and its ability to track events and facts better than a human might be able to it provides an increased level of credibility to the researcher than otherwise might have existed.

After reading Sun's case studies in her dissertation I am certain that the use of technology assisted her in formulating a complete story of her participants use. Without the use of technology she would not have been able to track the particular details of use as accurately as she had. She also would not have had a dissertation since it was about technology nor would it have been as interesting. The use of technology also allowed her to contact and include an international study participant to whom she might have not otherwise had contact.

Justification

Given that some electronic environments won't be seen as "professional", how do we justify studying them?

This is a really tough question to ponder. On one hand the inexpensive nature of the Internet leads to a number of sites cropping up all over the place that may look professional and offer information that is not necessarily correct. These sites are often indiscernible from legitimate ones. On the other hand though a number of self-help, forum tip/info sharing sites have managed to create a self-regulating unique community that can be very beneficial to those that find it and study it. In either camp I find the creativity, social nature and use of technology intriguing and well worth exploring to help drive us further as a society.

Problems in the Internet World

What are the biggest Problems associated with studying online environments?

One of the biggest things that make the Internet and online environments so attractive to us is also one of the same things that make it so difficult to study, modularity (the ability to change and morph). A page that you can be looking at one second could be completely different in the next. Several things allow this to happen and based on what you are trying to study could taint or affect the study.

The entire design can be easily changed through CSS. I have a 10,000 some odd page Web site that I control for the university that I can now change in a matter of hours or less given lead time. This ability for change could affect someone who is working on a study of visual style and representation of web pages or certain styles.

Blogs and forums can be easily edited at anytime to modify post that may have previously existed. If you were studying a flame war on a specific topic on a forum you can return in a matter of hours and find the entire conversation or portions of it have disappeared.

Site like the wayback machine can be helpful for archiving specific periods of time for web site but they will not capture everything and do not crawl the sites at specific intervals or events. The nature of the Web tends to change faster than the intervals that these types of services can archive.

A number of other problems exist with online environment study like the inability to contact every test subject due to their scattered nature but these things are also what make it exciting and interesting to invest time in.

Comfort Levels

Think of the communities I am part of. How comfortable would I be if someone studied them? Why?

The type of community would determine the comfort level. When I was part of the the WebMD message boards I would have been uncomfortable with someone studying the site but as a member of a webboard for webmasters would not bother me at all. As I write this though I begin to wonder what they would study and whether that would bother me. I think the subject matter of the study could also make a difference. If the study was unobtrusive and nondamaging to myself or my career again it would be okay.

I think this is an important exercise to remember as I move through the research process. Without putting myself in the shoes of those I am researching I might find it easy to overlook their feelings. It looks like I have a new important step to include in the process.

The Digital Age - Questions and Interesting Places

What are the questions I think are the most interesting in the digital age?
Hum. I am fascinated with how people use the Internet. With it's emergence it felt like such a cold and cumbersome technology that was not overly intuitive. As it has evolved though more and more people have become comfortable with it and I would say some have become very comfortable. Out of this comes a number of questions;

1. In an age where we are trying to conserve and move more to a paperless, digital society do people really trust the Internet enough for all of their needs such as banking, bills and medical information or should the Internet serve as a supplement to the physical environment?
2. Can a faceless computer allow people to reach across physical boundaries to make/find friends that span beyond the online community?
3. Are literacy skills enhanced or reduced due to the slang used in programs such as aim or through text messaging?

What are the most interesting online environments? Why?
There are so many online environments out there now that it is absolutely amazing the number of directions you can go in. I find that I am interested in different ones at different times based on my current position in life. Four and half years ago when I was expecting my first child I spent a number of hours a day on WebMD's pregnancy message boards. I will admit I was mainly a lurker during my time there but I found solace in the post of others in my similar situations. Women I had never meet before became my digital friends and their problems and solutions were helpful to me. Now that I am removed from that stage in my life I find myself more interested in blogs. They provide such a fascinating digital record of the experiences and the life of the author. A number of them lend themselves to a soap opera in a new age.

The future and what it holds will be interesting. I think we have only begun to scratch the surface of how the Internet will affect our lives.