Internet Inquiry: Conversations About Method, edited by Annette N. Markham and Nancy K. Baym. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2008. 264 pp. $50.00 paper. ISBN 978-1412910019 (paper)

摘要

Internet Inquiry is not a step-by-step guide for performing online qualitative research; it is rather an invitation to reflect and discuss upon methods. It creates a conversation internally by the scholars and also motivates readers to think over their own research questions. This anthology is a collection developed around six chapters in which scholars discuss fundamental issues about the methodology and epistemology associated with conducting qualitative internet research. In each chapter the editors address a key question, which is answered by an experienced qualitative scholar and followed by responses from typically two other scholars, who address the first response and widen the range of theoretical and methodological perspectives. The answers are based on the scholars' experiences and decisions made when performing research in areas such as collecting data, privacy, ethics, framing the research problem, effects on structures and process, and time and space considerations. Finally, each chapter lists several readings recommended by the scholars. The book contributes to new understandings of qualitative research in general. At the same time, throughout its text, the scholars keep a focus on the uniqueness of online environments.