How To Conduct Behavioral Research Over The Internet

Requiring no prior knowledge of programming or web site design, this easy-to-follow, step-by-step guide helps professionals as well as students create interactive behavioral research instruments online. With this volume, anyone can learn to write programs in HTML and CGI/Perl that will enable them to take full advantage of all the benefits of Internet-based data collection: the ability to effortlessly manipulate visual and narrative content, randomize the presentation order of stimuli, and provide customized assessments and feedback for research participants. Including extensive examples throughout, the book explains everything from how to obtain access to a web server to mastering HTML coding, processing data with CGI/Perl, and importing data files into popular statistical packages. While the examples are from psychology, the technical skills the book provides can be adapted to other fields that make use of behavioral research.

Title on accompanying CD-ROM: Behavioral research on the Internet.

"The Internet is revolutionizing the way psychologists conduct behavioral research. Studies conducted online are not only less error prone and labor intensive but also rapidly reach large numbers of diverse participants at a fraction of the cost of traditional methods. In addition to improving the efficiency and accuracy of data collection, online studies provide automatic data storage and deliver immediate personalized feedback to research participants--a major incentive that can exponentially expand participant pools. Furthermore, behavioral researchers can also track data on online behavioral phenomena, including Instant Messaging (IM), social networking, and other social media. This book goes beyond the basics to teach readers advanced methods for conducting behavioral research on the Internet. Short chapters offer practical advice by leading experts in key domains of Internet research. Readers are shown, step by step, how to conduct online experiments, surveys, and ability testing, use advanced graphic tools such as drag-and-drop objects, apply automatic text analysis tools, check the validity of protocols, automate the storage and analysis of data, record "field notes" on the behavior of online subjects and chatroom or blogging communities, and much more. Chapters also address critical issues such as data security, ethics, participant recruitment, and how to ensure the completion of tests or questionnaires. This volume also features a companion Web site with additional resources, links, scripts, and instructions to further assist readers with their online research. This book is designed for researchers and advanced graduate students in the behavioral sciences seeking greater technical detail about emerging research methods. Readers will be well equipped to implement and integrate these exciting new methods into their own Internet-based behavioral research effectively, securely, and responsibly"--Matériel publicitaire. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved).

This book shows readers how to conduct online experiments, surveys, and ability testing, use advanced graphic tools, apply automatic text analysis tools, check the validity of protocols, and much more.

Highlighting the progress made by researchers in using Web-based surveys for data collection, this timely volume summarizes the experiences of leading behavioral and social scientists from Europe and the US who collected data using the Internet. Some chapters present theory, methodology, design, and implementation, while others focus on best practice examples and/or issues such as data quality and understanding paradata. A number of contributors applied innovative Web-based research methods to the LISS panel of CentERdata collected from over 5,000 Dutch households. Their findings are presented in the book. Some of the data is available on the book website. The book addresses practical issues such as data quality, how to reach difficult target groups, how to design a survey to maximize response, and ethical issues that need to be considered. Innovative applications such as the use of biomarkers and eye-tracking techniques are also explored. Part 1 provides an overview of Internet survey research including its methodologies, strengths, challenges, and best practices. Innovative ways to minimize sources of error are provided along with a review of mixed-mode designs, how to design a scientifically sound longitudinal panel and avoid sampling problems, and address ethical requirements in Web surveys. Part 2 focuses on advanced applications including the impact of visual design on the interpretability of survey questions, the impact survey usability has on respondents’ answers, design features that increase interaction, and how Internet surveys can be effectively used to study sensitive issues. Part 3 addresses data quality, sample selection, measurement and non-response error, and new applications for collecting online data. The issue of underrepresentation of certain groups in Internet research and the measures most effective at reducing it are also addressed. The book concludes with a discussion of the importance of paradata and the Web data collection process in general, followed by chapters with innovative experiments using eye-tracking techniques and biomarker data. This practical book appeals to practitioners from market survey research institutes and researchers in disciplines such as psychology, education, sociology, political science, health studies, marketing, economics, and business who use the Internet for data collection, but is also an ideal supplement for graduate and/or upper level undergraduate courses on (Internet) research methods and/or data collection taught in these fields.

Offering a concise, comprehensive guide to conducting research on the Internet, this book provides a detailed explanation of all the main areas of Internet research. It distinguishes between primary research (using the Internet to recruit participants, to administer the research process and to collect results) and secondary research (using the Internet to access available material online). The book is designed for social science researchers and presents a user-friendly, practical guide that will be invaluable to both students and researchers who wish to incorporate the Internet into their research practice.

Conducting Online Research on Amazon Mechanical Turk® and Beyond, written by Leib Litman and Jonathan Robinson, provides both students and experienced researchers with essential information about the online platforms most often used for social science research. This insightful and accessible text answers common questions like, "How do I maintain data quality in online studies?," "What is the best way to recruit hard-to-reach samples?" and "How can researchers navigate the ethical issues that are unique to online research?" Drawing on their experiences as the founders of CloudResearch (formerly TurkPrime), the authors provide information that guides new users planning their first online studies and engages even the most experienced researchers with detailed discussions about the challenges of online research. The book begins with an overview of Amazon’s Mechanical Turk and its rapid rise within academic research. Then, the authors describe how to set up an MTurk study with screenshots that walk readers through the steps of creating an account, designing a study, collecting data, and using third-party applications to enhance MTurk’s functionality. Later chapters provide readers with a detailed understanding of the MTurk environment and use data from hundreds of thousands of participants and tens of millions of completed tasks to dive into issues like participant demographics, sources of sampling bias, and the generalizability of findings from MTurk. Finally, the book explores the benefits of using other online platforms as a complement to MTurk and the ethical issues that are unique to conducting research with online participant platforms. Throughout the book, the authors share hands-on advice and best practices, such as those for conducting longitudinal studies or carrying out complex studies. Altogether the mix of data, insight, and advice make this book an essential resource for researchers who want to understand the online environment and the most effective ways to conduct research online.

This handbook is the first to provide comprehensive, up-to-the-minute coverage of contemporary and developing Internet and online social research methods, spanning both quantitative and qualitative research applications. The editors have brought together leading names in the field of online research to give a thoroughly up to date, practical coverage, richly illustrated with examples. The chapters cover both methodological and procedural themes, offering readers a sophisticated treatment of the practice and uses of Internet and online research that is grounded in the principles of research methodology. Beginning with an examination of the significance of the Internet as a research medium, the book goes on to cover research design, data capture, online surveys, virtual ethnography, and the internet as an archival resource, and concludes by looking at potential directions for the future of Internet and online research. The SAGE Handbook of Internet and Online Research Methods will be welcomed by anyone interested in the contemporary practice of computer-mediated research and scholarship. Postgraduates, researchers and methodologists from disciplines across the social sciences will find this an invaluable source of reference.