1st Edition
Research Methods and Global Online Communities A Case Study
List of Figures and Tables
Acknowledgements
Foreword
1 Introduction
Part I T he Study of Global Online Communities
2 C ommunity and Technology
3 T ranscending the Dualism
4 A Methodological Approach for Researching Digital Community
5 S ensitising Quantitative Methods to the Research Population
6 Sensitising Qualitative Methods to the Research Population
Part II Illustrating the Connections between
Research Methods, Concepts and Analysis
7 C ommunity Place
8 S ocial Composition
9 C ommunity Boundaries
10 C ommunity Cohesion
Bibliography
Index
Biography
Alexia Maddox is Research Officer for Deakin University Library and Sessional Lecturer in Research Methods in the Faculty of Arts and Education at Deakin University, Australia. She also conducts research into the social impacts of cryptomarkets in her role as Research Officer at the National Drug Research Institute, in the Faculty of Health Sciences at Curtin University, where she is supported by funding from the Australian Government under the Substance Misuse Prevention and Service Improvement Grants Fund.
’In this book, Alexia Maddox presents a compelling and engaging account of how online communities operate. Not only does she include a thorough overview of previous research, the book also discusses new findings from her own study that extends her insights in exciting ways. It will be of interest both to scholars new to this field and those looking for the latest developments in networked sociability studies.’ Deborah Lupton, University of Canberra, Australia ’This is what a community study looks like in the information age. It is a really rich attempt to ground contemporary debates in research methods appropriate for the digital era in an engaging substantive study of a global community of - what one comes to know as - herpers. Although the specifics of the study are of interest, the real strength of the text is the manner in which lessons about researching global online communities in general are drawn.’ Roger Burrows, Goldsmiths, University of London, UK
