Week 11 - Research and the Internet

Question 1

History

Answer 1

Pre 1980s - snail mail
1980s - emails, bulletin boards
1990s - internet (rapid transmission, global communication)

Question 2

Research publication process

Answer 2

Conduct study > Submit to journal > Editor decides whether to send for review > reviewers recommend provisions > author revises and resubmits > reviewers re-review > author sends final materials > PUBLICATION

Very long process, with money involved at every step (very expensive)

Question 3

Open access publication

Answer 3

Bypasses expensive and exclusive nature of print journals
Examples - Psycholoquy (APA, 1990-2002), Journal of Vision (ARVO, 2001-), computer scientists and physicists also began early
Nowadays, universities don’t have to subscribe to as many journals (authors now pay to be published and unis cover the cost)

Question 4

Internet impact - conducting psychology studies

Answer 4

Administration (sign up, consent) - much easier and faster online
Data collection - online surveys (automatic scoring), perception experiments (handles stimulus presentation, response timing), applied research (therapeutic programs. evaluation)

Question 5

Research possibilities

Answer 5

Internet as subject of study - online behaviour, identity, cyberbullying

Question 6

Researcher advantages

Answer 6

Recruitment/data collection (email, snowball sampling)
Research sites - can target specific groups (paid sites dangerous however)
Equality in research accessibility (large, diverse samples at low cost)
Access to archival material
Potentially less experimenter bias (standardised delivery)
Faster data collection
Internet more familiar/interesting (more motivation)

Question 7

Ethical benefits

Answer 7

Anonymity
Less cost/effort for Ss
Decreased social pressure
Greater freedom to withdraw

Question 8

Researcher disadvantages

Answer 8

Sample bias/generalisability
Non-response bias/dropout
No control over setting
Hard to monitor S identity/ understanding/humanity
Malicious intent
Tech failures
Repeat Ss

Solutions - pilot and pretest, do ‘trustworthy’ data collection as well as online, record IP addresses, objective exclusion criteria (timing, attention checks)

Question 9

Ethical disadvantages

Answer 9

Ethical ambiguity (FB emotional manipulation study)
Ethics and debriefing
Breaches of confidentiality