[Air-L] Fw: Re: Missing Data in Qualitative and Online Research

Sat Aug 7 14:19:43 PDT 2010

As I write the methods section of my diss, I've been thinking about this
question. The implications here are at least two fold...data that is
overlooked and data that is difficult or impossible to obtain. Both issues
exist as limitations for all our research and are easily overlooked with
internet research as most of us suffer from a wealth of available data.

This type of discussion is a difficult one to have because the human mind is
not well wired to recognize unexperienced absence. It's easy to see what is
missing if we have seen it before, but it is very hard to work through a
complete intellectual exercise of identifying what MIGHT be there but has
not been previously seen. I think this is particularly difficult for young
researchers in any field as you need a history to recognize where the paths
may be running parallel to the road but are hidden by the bushes.

As a blogging researcher, I'm conscious of two groups of data that are
missing from my corpora...I should say two sets that I am clear are missing.
First, anything that his happening behind a firewall. I can't get to this
data so I define my projects as being blogs that are publicly
available...that covers for the fact that I know there is data that is
unavailable to me.

Second, most of the blogs I find are using some form of blogging software.
It is likely that some blogs are out there that are handcoding their
posts...maybe not many but some...and those are missed when using search
engines to locate subject blogs.

Which brings me to my last point...search engines. When I peer review, it
often hits me how much data is being missed by relying on a single search
engine for collection...also how often this is done without the author
acknowledging the biases are introduced into the work by this choice. Maybe
if the author tried another search venue they might find other important
data...maybe not...but you never know until you try.

My $0.02. Hope that helps

Lois

On Sat, Aug 7, 2010 at 4:01 PM, Mohammad H. Hasani <mh_hasani at yahoo.com>wrote:

>
>
> --- On Sat, 8/7/10, Mohammad H. Hasani <mh_hasani at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> From: Mohammad H. Hasani <mh_hasani at yahoo.com>
> Subject: Re: [Air-L] Missing Data in Qualitative and Online Research
> To: "William Dutton" <william.dutton at oii.ox.ac.uk>
> Date: Saturday, August 7, 2010, 12:59 PM
>
>
>
>
>
> Generally speaking,
>
> 1. I think missing data in a Qual research is data could make
> a significant contribution to the grounded concept or theory but researcher
> neglects or fails to collect. Repeating some phases in data
> collection/analysis,
> conducting parallel Qual research or reverse previewing of the research
> phases seems to help.
>
> 2. The same for CMR, but here, the researcher should also pay more
> attention to the cases; inappropriate cases may cause collecting poor data
> could
> be seen as missed.
>
> Triangulated
> observations may help in this case.
>
>
>
> Mohammad
> H. Hasani,
>
> Instructor
> in Sociology
>
>  Payame Noor
>  University
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> --- On Fri, 8/6/10, William Dutton <william.dutton at oii.ox.ac.uk> wrote:
>
> From: William Dutton <william.dutton at oii.ox.ac.uk>
> Subject: [Air-L] Missing Data in Qualitative and Online Research
> To: "air-l at listserv.aoir.org" <air-l at listserv.aoir.org>
> Date: Friday, August 6, 2010, 8:17 AM
>
> Dear List Members,
>
> My colleagues and I would greatly appreciate your input to an exploratory
> project on missing data in qualitative and online research.* We would
> appreciate anything from your immediate reactions while reading this e-mail
> to detailed references to literature that has addressed our questions.
>
> There are two very general but heuristically useful questions. Your views
> on either would be welcomed. Feel free to reply privately or to the list, as
> you
>  wish.
>
> 1. What is ‘missing data’ in the context of qualitative research and how is
> it dealt with?
>
> 2. Likewise, in computer-mediated research, are researchers missing
> particular kinds of data, or believe that they are missing particular kinds
> of observations, and how are they compensating or otherwise addressing this
> gap?
>
> Thoughts? Thank you,
>
> Bill
>
> *This is a collaborative project between the ESRC’s National Centre for
> Research Methods (NCRM) ‘hub’ (Graham Crow, Rose Wiles), WISERD (Amanda
> Coffey), Oxford eSocial Science ‘node’ of NCeSS (Bill Dutton, Alison
> Powell), and Qualidata/Timescapes (Libby Bishop), based on our recognition
> of a shared but not well developed problem.
>
> William Dutton, Director
> Professor of Internet Studies
> Oxford Internet Institute
> 1 St Giles', Oxford OX1 3JS  UK
>
> e-mail: william.dutton at oii.ox.ac.uk
> Web: http://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/people/?id=1
> Phone: +44 (0)1865 287 212
> Cell: +44 (0)7768 823906
>
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>
>
>
>
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-- 
Lois Ann Scheidt
Doctoral Candidate - School of Library and Information Science, Indiana
University, Bloomington IN USA
Webpage:  http://www.loisscheidt.com
CV:  http://www.loisscheidt.com/cv.html
Blog:  http://www.professional-lurker.com