This page is designated for discussing research methods used to study online communities, their pros and cons, and examples of these methods.

Research Methods

Ethnography (participatory observation, interviews, observation?)

• Disciplines: anthropology, sociology
• Pros: "rich" description of issues. Good for exploratory analysis when specific hypotheses are not yet known.
• Cons: not generalizable. Not appropriate for testing specific hypotheses. Takes a considerable amount of time and effort.

Field Experiment

• Disciplines:
• Pros: High external and internal validity. Good for testing specific hypotheses.
• Cons: Must know what hypotheses to test for. Difficult to find opportunities to perform field experiments.

Lab Experiment

Simulation (e.g., agent based modeling)

Mathematical Modeling (e.g., economic theory)

Survey (Questionnaires)

Log data analysis (e.g., econometrics)

Content Analysis

System design and testing

Social Network Analysis