[Air-l] research methodology - justification internet and lying

[Annette Markham]

Hi Angela,

I agree with what Jennifer wrote.  Additionally, here are some thoughts.

>In essence I am carrying out online discussions in a chat room 
>environment. The room has been set up by myself and only people taking 
>part in the discussion are present. The problem I am being faced with is 
>that of the internet and 'lying'.

First, lying is possible in any setting, as you've noted.  Having said 
that, however, the internet does provide good opportunity for it.  Whether 
this fact is important or not depends in great part on the research 
question you're trying to ask. Are you using the chatroom as a convenient 
way to do focus group interaction?   Or are you interviewing these people 
in context, with some goal of trying to understand their performance of 
identity online, the way they play with language and identity, the way they 
interact in this setting, etc.

Another way to get at this issue is to ask:  Are you doing research OF the 
internet or are you USING the internet as a methods tool for your 
research?  (borrowing from Mann and Stewart here)

>It is suggested by those with more knowledge than I that the methodology 
>is rubbish

I love your sentence here, but the methodology of interviewing in chatrooms 
is not rubbish.  Again, it all depends on the goal of your research and the 
specific questions you're trying to explore.

>as I cannot possibly tell if those taking part are lying, due to lack of 
>body language.
>I contested this by pointing out that people can lie in face to face 
>discussion also and it may be difficult to pick up on. Also it is my 
>opinion that people in a familiar environment (ie at their own pc) may in 
>actual fact be more at ease and this will therefore lead to a more honest 
>response. Of course as a lowly honours student my opinion is worthless, so 
>it is this that I need help with.
You're definitely on the right track here:  Internet communication 
highlights both the absence and performance of socio-emotional cues, 
nonverbal language, and so forth.  This feature of computer mediated 
communication is a good reminder of our limitations in any research setting 
to assess accurately the extent to which a participant is lying or not with.

Along the same lines, "honesty" may not be the best criteria to use to 
assess the quality of responses, content of responses, or the respondents 
themselves.  Lived experience may never be truly honest....and who are the 
judges?  Surely not us researchers!  Maybe delve more deeply and ask 
yourself what you're really trying to get at by doing this study.  If 
you're trying to understand how people perform and enact their everyday 
lives,  you can only go by what they say and perform.  And any 
interpretation you conduct will be through your own perspective and way of 
representing them. A different criteria for validating, qualifying, or 
otherwise justifying your interpretation as credible or good might be useful.

If you're trying to understand how they really feel about some issue, and 
you're using the internet as a convenient interviewing tool, I recommend 
Mann and Stewart's book on Internet Research.

In any case, it's worth the time to consider what is meant by "lying" 
anyway, which is part of what Jennifer is getting at in her response.

Again, you may be able to more clearly defend your method by asking if it's 
a good fit with the question you're trying to get at.

>Does anyone have any solid research I can justify this methodology with? I 
>already have a few good links courtesy of the sociopranos board, but any 
>further assistance would be great!
Again, Mann and Stewart's book useful.  Also, frankly, any good 
contemporary methodology text that discusses interpretive qualitative 
methods and addresses issues of knowing and representation would be useful.

Another recommendation: Denzin and Lincoln's Handbook of Qualitative Research.

Then, here's a link to an early draft of a chapter I've written that will 
be forthcoming in the spring (in Online Social Research: Methods, Issues, 
and Ethics, editors Sarina Chen, Jon Hall, and Mark Johns). You might find 
some points or sources useful. 
http://ascend.comm.uic.edu/~amarkham/lectures/markhamDRAFT.htm

Good luck with your project,

Annette



Annette N. Markham, Ph.D.
Department of Communication
University of Illinois at Chicago
1007 W. Harrison St. (m/c 132)
Chicago, IL  60607-7137

Tel:  312-413-2124
amarkham at uic.edu

<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/stores/detail/-/books/0761990313/glance/104-0668328-2787956>Life 
Online:  Researching Real Experiences in Virtual Space
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