Internet research
- This article is about using the Internet for research; for the field of research about the Internet, see Internet studies.
Internet research is the practice of using the Internet, especially the World Wide Web, for research. To the extent that the Internet is widely and readily accessible to hundreds of millions of people in many parts of the world, it can provide practically instant information on most topics, and is having a profound impact on the way in which ideas are formed and knowledge is created.
Research is a broad term. Here, it is used to mean "looking something up (on the Web)". It includes any activity where a topic is identified, and an effort is made to actively gather information for the purpose of furthering understanding. Common applications of Internet research include personal research on a particular subject (something mentioned on the news, a health problem, etc), students doing research for academic projects and papers, and journalists and other writers researching stories. It should be distinguished from scientific research - research following a defined and rigorous process - carried out on the Internet; from straightforward finding of specific info, like locating a name or phone number; and from research about the Internet.
Compared to the Internet, print physically limits access to information. A book has to be identified, then actually obtained. On the Net, the Web can be searched, and typically hundreds or thousands of pages can be found with some relation to the topic, within seconds. In addition, email (including mailing lists), online discussion forums (aka message boards, BBS's), and other personal communication facilities (instant messaging, IRC, newsgroups, etc) can provide direct access to experts and other individuals with relevant interests and knowledge. However, difficulties persist in verifying a writer's credentials, and therefore the accuracy or pertinence of the information obtained -- see also the article Criticism of Wikipedia and its section Difficulty of fact-checking.
It should be noted that thousands of books and other print publications have been made available online that would be extremely difficult to locate otherwise, including out-of-print books, and classic literature and textbooks that would be much less accessible in their printed form.
Ethics
Internet research ethics is becoming more important now that Institutional Research Boards (IRBs) are having to approve research in Universities.
Broadly speaking, there are the following ethical approaches:
- Consequentialist (or utilitarian) ethics.
- Deontological ethics.
- Ethics of care.
- Virtue ethics.
- Open source ethics.
See also
References
- Anscombe, G. E. M. (1958). Modern Moral Philosophy. Philosophy, 33.
- AoIR. (2001). Ethics Working Committee: Preliminary Report for Ethics, from http://aoir.org/reports/ethics.pdf
- Berry, D. M. (2004). Internet Research: Privacy, Ethics and Alienation - An Open Source Approach. The Journal of Internet Research, 14(4).
- Boehlefeld, S. (1996). Doing the Right Thing: Ethical Cyber Research. The Information Society, 12(2)(2).
- Ess, C. (2001). Internet Research Ethics
- Eysenbach G, Till JE. Ethical issues in qualitative research on internet communities. BMJ 2001; 323: 1103–1105.Free Full Text
- Jones, S. (1999). Doing Internet Research: Critical Issues and Methods for Examining the Net. London: Sage.
- King, S., A. (1996). Researching Internet Communities: Proposed Ethical Guidelines for the Reporting of Results. The Information Society, 12(2)(2).
External links
- The Association of Internet Researchers
- Internet Research FAQ
- Advantages/Disadvantages of doing internet research
- Human assisted Internet research engine
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