Introduction: Social scientists conducting research online are presented with a number of methodological problems, some of them unique to the medium of exploration. For example, while some argue that entering cyberspace is the equivalent of going "into the field" there are others who who feel that cyberspace is not "real", and therefore is not worthy of study. Many have debated whether conversations held in cyberspace are public or private, and thus whether social scientists have the right to observe and analyse online discussions without the permission of participants. In this issue of Cybersociology, researchers approach the problem of research methodology in cyberspace from a number of directions. Despite the different approach taken by each contributor, the result is always the same in one respect: in cyberspace, we MUST adhere to the ethical and moral principles that guide our research elsewhere. The following articles are our contribution to the continueing debate about research methodology online. (Robin Hamman, August 1999)
The Digital Ethnographer
By Bruce Mason & Bella Dicks, Cardiff University, Wales.
Behaviour in Public? : Ethics in Online Ethnography
By Allison Cavanagh, University of Manchester, England.
Virtual Corporeality: Adolescent Girls and Their Bodies in Cyberspace
By Kerrie Smyres, Hugh D owns School of Human Communication, Arizona State University
Among the Internauts: Notes from the cyberfield.
By Nils Zurawski, Institute of Sociology, University of Münster, Germany
Cyborg Diaspora and Virtual Imagined Community: Studying SAWNET [Lost, but author site at cyberdiva.org]
By Radhika Gajjala, Bowling Green State University
Cyberspace as Everyday Life [Lost]
By Stephen Webb, University of North London
Interview with Richard Stallman, Founder of the Free Software Foundation
By Geert Lovink
BIG BROTHER IS ON-LINE: Public and Private Security in the Internet
By Javier Bernal, University of Lincolnshire & Humberside, England.
The Web of Life in the Life of the Web: The Philippine Internet Experience
By Benjamin M.Wage, Jr.
Book Reviews:
Researching Online for Dummies by Reva Basch. Review by: Paul M. Malone, University of Waterloo, Canada.
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