| Due: | Thursday, March 30th |
|---|---|
| Format: | Double spaced, numbered pages, 12 pt. font; paper copy and electronic sent to instructor and TA |
| Approximate Length: | 20-30 pages; one paper per team |
| Percentage of Grade: | 35% |
| Team size: | 3 people (unless otherwise OK'd by the instructor or TA) |
Each team will have to get explicit IRB permission. This involves adding you on as an investigator in the study after your proof of human subjects certification has been accepted, and also getting approval for the specific site you wish to study. You may not begin studying the site until you receive explicit notice from the instructor or TA that you have been approved. You also must attend the ethics lectures. Make sure to follow the ethics summary.
In addition to participant observation, you should each interview three people affiliated with the community. They may be community designers, leaders, or regular members. You don't need to stick to Seidman's three interview structure--one interview per participant is sufficient. You must get informed consent before doing an interview; we'll discuss this in class. The interviews are better if they're in person, but telephone works too. Text-chat is also possible though not as good. Skype and Google Hangouts are good choices. If you are using a regular telephone, make sure you have a way to record the call. You can buy a gizmo at Radio Shack to let you record conversations off of the phone. You must get permission to record the conversation. Interviews should be conducted via instant messenger, phone/skype, or in person. Email interviews are not acceptable. At least one of your three interviews must be by some form of audio. A team of three people should interview nine people total.
You will hand in your interview transcripts as homework assignments. Please highlight sections of the transcript that seem interesting to you and add comments on what about this part of the interview was interesting and why.
Please try to get your interviews done by the due dates on the syllabus. However, if a subject says "how about talking on Wednesday?" you can't push them to talk earlier because your transcript is due Tuesday--please accomodate their schedule. There will be no late penalty for late transcripts. If you can't hand in a transcript at a due date, please instead hand in one page description of your efforts to get interviews.
Read and make sure to abide by our guidelines on site choice. Your site must be approved by the intructor or TA.
If you wish to study a phenomenon that spans multiple sites, this may be possible with permission of the instructor. For example, one team in 2013 studied bronies and found that you could not understand their online activities without looking at several related sites. Studying multiple sites is harder, so think carefully before choosing this option.
Analyze the community in terms of Amy Jo Kim's "Nine Principles for Community Design." How does the community address each of these issues? (Kim's book "Community Building on the Web" is out of print, but you buy a pdf online.)
In what ways is the community successful? Is it meeting the needs of its members? Compare and contrast the community to other similar ones. In what ways could the community be better designed? How would you change it?
In your paper, make sure to cite the course readings and include a detailed bibliography.
Include in your paper a "methods" section in which you describe how you did your research: how much time did you spend participating? In what ways did you participate? Who did you interview? (Present these portraits anonymized, as we discussed in the ethics lecture.) Use participants real names if they requested it. Talk to the TA or instructor if you have questions.
Include in your paper a related work section which describes other work done related to your site. Course readings and related works should be cited throughout the paper as appropriate.
Exact length doesn't matter--use the amount of space you need to tell your story well, whether that be longer or shorter. But please don't go over twice the suggested length. We stop reading at that length.
Your bibliography should be in APA format.
Some useful researcher tools are Google Scholar and the Library Web Localizer.
Please email a copy to the instructor and TA before class on the day it's due. Please also hand in a paper copy in class.
You will be graded on:
It's a good idea to choose a site that is successful. You'll learn more by thinking in detail about something that works than by tearing apart something that doesn't work. And it's much easier to do a thoughtful analysis of a successful site. Your choice of site must be approved by the instructor or TA before you may begin work.
Students sometimes find it quite hard to get people to agree to talk with them. You may wish to choose a site that friends or classmates use. It's not a great idea to interview friends or classmates, but it is a reasonable backup strategy if other methods of recruitment fail. You must do these interviews, and you can't be obnoxious in how you request interviews. "No one would talk to me" is unfortunately not an excuse.
Pick a site that you enjoy and can imagine yourself spending a lot of time on. You will be there a lot for your participant observation. Furthermore, if you do not participate in the site sincerely yourself, you will have more trouble getting interviews. For example, the students who decided to study bix.com needed to start singing. Until they did, no one would talk to them.
If you encounter significant difficulties recruiting participants, please make an appointment to meet with the professor and/or TA. You may need to switch sites.
A sample successful paper is posted on T-Square as a resource, with permission.
Every group that volunteers to give an in-class presentation will get zero to three points added to their paper grade, depending on the quality of the presentation. To give a presentation, please volunteer by sending an email to the instructor and TAs no later than the class before papers are due.
If you are giving a talk, it should be 10 minutes long maximum. All team members should participate in giving the talk. The quality of your presentation and overheads counts towards your talk grade. A short talk on how to give a talk will be given in class approximately one week before talks are due.