E-Research in the Social Sciences: A Selective Overview and Case Exa

摘要

Social scientists are increasingly relying on the internet for research. This article provides abrief and selective overview of online applications to scholarly activity in psychology, sociology, publichealth, political science and public administration. Psychologists have developed websites with surveysand experimental stimuli for direct data collection. Sociologists, while using survey methodology, havealso studied the social implications of internet communities such as Second Life. Being able to obtainsensitive health related information from a worldwide population has the potential for estimating thefrequency and distribution of drug use and sexual practices and contributes to public health knowledge.Secondary analysis of census information, from centralized data banks, permits a better understanding ofcitizen participation in local, state, and federal governments. The paper concludes with an example of anonline study conducted in the field of public administration.