[Air-l] social networking websites research/grad student questions

[Andrea Kavanaugh]

Also check out the School for Information Sciences and Technology at 
Penn State; look up the work of Jack (John) Carroll and Mary Beth 
Rosson, both faculty there.  The school is interdisciplinary, and 
Jack and Mary Beth are doing interesting work (and would be good 
advisors if you can get them) for research in social psychology 
(including social networking themes) and human computer interaction.
http://www.ist.psu.edu

Andrea


At 12:42 PM 2/20/2006, Caroline Haythornthwaite wrote:
>A decision between a Business and an Information Science degree comes down
>to who you want to teach when done, and which disciplinary practices and
>knowledge you want to be embedded in.
>
>If you want to teach future business people, then it's best to go 
>for a business
>degree. If you want to teach future librarians and/or information 
>scientists, its
>an LIS or Information Studies degree.  There are also communications 
>schools to
>consider; many now have people working on virtual community -- mixed with
>an organizational communication focus you might bridge the business and
>information worlds.
>
>Another angle to consider is if you intend to build the virtual community
>software (a computing orientation), help people use them 
>(information studies),
>market them (business), or study them as social phenomenon (information
>studies, communications, sociology).
>
>I think the best thing is to see whose research you like best -- 
>i.e., that is
>closest to what you want to do -- and then see where they work. Consider the
>papers you are reading and see where these people work. That will give you an
>idea of where the work you want to do is best accepted.
>
>/Caroline
>
>---- Original message ----
> >Date: Sun, 19 Feb 2006 16:47:54 +0100
> >From: Maciej Kos <kos at gnu.univ.gda.pl>
> >Subject: [Air-l] social networking websites research/grad student 
> questions
> >To: air-l at listserv.aoir.org
> >
> >Dear All,
> >
> >Last year I graduated from Master's program in economics with minor in
> >e-business. I wrote my thesis on "virtual communities as a new channel
> >of Internet marketing communications". I wanted to pursue (I still do) a
> >career in research so it was clear to me, I should apply to PhD program
> >in economics, especially that I was offered a faculty position at my
> >home economics/e-business department. My research interests are: virtual
> >communities, WEB 2.0, Internet marketing. My Ph D's preliminary working
> >title is "Social networking websites (Web 2.0) as a new way of
> >organizing and evaluating information on the web. What is a lesson to
> >learnt for on line marketeers?". I would like to describe what Web 2.0
> >is, how it is affecting the way we look for information, evaluate it and
> >how it's affecting our buying behaviors.
> >
> >I spent last few months on digging through research papers related to
> >this topic. I was also trying to find a thesis supervisor. These two
> >things led me to a belief that perhaps my interests are more of
> >information studies, rather than business ones. I have a really hard
> >time finding anyone at my university with expertise in virtual
> >communities, etc.
> >
> >1) If you were in my shoes, would you choose:
> >a) Information studies program or
> >b) Marketing program?
> >
> >2) Which program is easier to get it:
> >a) Information studies program or
> >b) Marketing program?
> >
> >3) Do you know of anybody, whose expertise would benefit my research? I
> >am considering going to a different university for some time as a
> >visiting scholar (Europe/USA).
> >4) Which places (universities/programs) would you recommend as best ones
> >to do an  interdisciplinary research into the Internet?
> >
> >5) Do Information and Business PhDs' salaries differ significantly:
> >a) inside academia
> >b) outside of academia
> >
> >There is nobody at my university to mentor me or to supervise my
> >dissertation, so I feel a little lost. Your help would be very much
> >appreciated.
> >
> >Best Regards,
> >M.K.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >_______________________________________________
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> >
> >Join the Association of Internet Researchers:
> >http://www.aoir.org/
>
>----------------------------------------
>Caroline Haythornthwaite
>Associate Professor
>Graduate School of Library and Information Science, University of 
>Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
>501 East Daniel St., Champaign IL 61820
>
>
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