PREFACE

There are two fundamental equalizers in life — the Internet and education.

John Chambers, CEO, Cisco Systems Inc. 1999

E-Research was written as guide and reference for both experienced and novice researchers. It assumes researchers have an interest in expanding their research skills by using the Internet in one of two ways. First, researchers may wish to study behavior that happens on the Net, such as activity that takes place in online schools or in virtual communities. Second, e-Research will be helpful for researchers whose interest and focus is activity that does not take place on the Net, but who wish to use the Net to improve the efficacy of the data collection, literature review, analysis or dissemination phases of the research process. The increasingly wide variety of activity that can and does take place on the Net, coupled with the migration to and creation of research tools for the Net, create conditions in which competent professionals and student researchers find the Net an indispensable aide to quality research activity and results.

Book Organization

We write this text as practicing academic researchers. We have structured the chapters based on a model of academic research that we commonly use with senior undergraduate, Masters or Doctoral projects and/or theses. We trust that the model will be familiar to many readers. Chapter 1 begins with an overview of the Internet, its applications and the effect of the Net on the processes and products of academic research. Chapter 2, “What is the Net?” overviews the Internet as a technology and describes ways to find information on the Net using various tools and search engines effectively and efficiently. Chapter 3, “Defining the e-Research Question,” helps researchers define their problem and the type of research paradigm they will use to investigate the problem. Chapter 4 deals with conducting a literature review online – finding out what others have discovered about both the problem and the proposed methodology. Ethics and the moral issues related to e-research are the focus of Chapter 5. Since research is ever more commonly undertaken by groups of researchers located around the world, we discuss ways in which the Net can be used to support multi-discipline and distributed work teams in Chapter 6. Chapters 7 to 12 discuss ways in which qualitative and quantitative research is conducted on and through the Net and includes interviews, focus groups, consensus techniques, surveys, and content analysis. Research has little impact unless the results are disseminated. As such, Chapter 13 covers ways in which the Net can be used as an efficient means of disseminating research results and chapter 14 covers Web site construction for this purpose. Chapter 15 concludes with a brief peek into the crystal ball of the future of the Net and e-research in the field of education.

E-Research need not be read sequentially; rather readers are invited to proceed directly to the section that most immediately meets their research needs. We hope the book both informs and entertains you, and proves a valuable aide to you in undertaking important research projects. We welcome comments or suggestions on any components of this text.