[Air-L] creating online spaces for data collection

[Bernard Bull]

Greetings all!

I am interested in your thoughts and experiences with studies that involve
the creation of an online space that invites individuals to contribute on a
select set of related subjects.  I suppose that it could be thought of as a
social survey.  Individuals would be welcome to complete surveys, polls,
share ideas in a discussion area, sign up to be interviewed, and/or perhaps
even have the ability to share and upload video narratives / contributions.
Given the social nature, it would be possible for individuals to build upon
the ideas and contributions of others, not unlike what we see in a focus
group.  Contributing to the space would, I suspect, require that
participants clearly know about and agree to participate in the study.  Have
you seen examples where something like this was implemented, effective, and
ethical?  I'm mostly just interested in your general reactions to the idea.
It emerged as I have been grappling with ways to get rich data from a
difficult group to identify.

Regards,

Bernard


Dr. Bernard Bull
Assistant Professor and Chair of  the M.S. In Educational Design &
Technology
Director of the Instructional Design Center
262-751-4912
bernard.bull at cuw.edu