COM 528 DESIGNING INTERNET RESEARCH
Spring Quarter, 2007
Prof. Kirsten Foot
Office: CMU 333
(206)543-4837
kfoot@u.washington.edu
Office hours: Monday 3:30-4:30 or by appointment

Download syllabus

 

 

Home

Schedule/Readings

Assignments

Resources

 

 

 Course Objective:
The purpose of the Internet Research course is to help prepare grad students to design high quality research projects that employ Internet applications/tools to study social phenomena offline or online. The focus of the course will be on assessing the incorporation of Internet applications as tools in proven methods of social research, the adaptation of social research methods to study online phenomena, and the development of new methods and tools that correspond with the particular capacities and characteristics of Internet applications.

Course Description:
What new lines of inquiry and approaches to social research are made possible and/or necessary by developments in Internet technologies and usage patterns? In what ways are established research methods affected by researchers' use of Internet resources? How do Internet applications challenge established methods of social research-- and how are researchers responding to these challenges?

These are some of the key questions we will seek to address in this course on Internet Research. The readings assigned for this course include both analyses of emergent Internet-related research methods, and a methodologically diverse array of studies conducted on and/or through Internet media. The focus of the course will be on methods for studying social phenomena that take place through/on Internet applications.
We will consider how Internet applications can be used as both research sites and tools, and ways in which online and offline methods of data collection and analysis may be combined strategically. The legal and ethical aspects of Internet research will receive ongoing consideration throughout the course.