Research Seminars in IT in Education (MIT6003) The use of computers in educational research Dr Jacky Pow

Agenda  Internet and research  Online survey  Online experiment

Internet and research  Through the use of tools such as online focus groups, electronic mail, and online questionnaires, the Internet opens up new possibilities for conducting research. It offers, for example –shorter timeframes for collecting and recording data: e- mail messages can be saved and analyzed in qualitative data packages, for example, while online surveys can be captured directly into a database –the possibility of conducting interviews and focus groups by , with related savings in costs and time –new "communities" to serve as the object of social scientific enquiry –opportunities for including mixed multiple media in questionnaires

Internet and research  On the other hand, these opportunities also raise new challenges for the researcher, such as –problems of sampling –the ethics of conducting research into online communities –physical access and skills required to use the technologies involved –accuracy and reliability of information obtained from online sources –the changed chronology of interaction resulting from asynchronous communication

Evaluation of information sources  It is necessary to validate the information you got from the Internet  valn/evaln.htm valn/evaln.htm

Online survey  While some of the characteristics of online survey research overlap with those of traditional survey research, there are also differences. Among the potential advantages of online questionnaires are low-cost delivery and return; wide potential coverage; ease of completion, submission and data capture; appropriateness to particular - not all - populations; high respondent acceptance for some groups; and even novelty

Online experiment  Psychology Research Online (PRO) 

The Internet as a medium for research  Study the website below. Discuss with your group members to see whether the Internet is a good medium for research 