Informed consent may be unobtainable in online contexts. This article examines the difficulties of obtaining informed consent online through a Facebook case study. It is proposed that there are at least two ways informed consent could be waived in research: first, if the data are public, and second, if the data are textual. Accordingly, the…

Background: Historically, significant advances in scientific understanding have followed advances in measurement and observation. As the resolving power of an instrument increased, so have gains in the understanding of the phenomena being observed. Modern interactive systems are potentially the new "microscopes" when they are…

Meta-analysis, a statistical method for combining quantitative findings from several studies addressing the same research problem, follows basic integrative research review procedures. Researchers must complete 11 specific, sequential steps, including selecting the type of meta-analysis, indicating the common research hypothesis, identifying…

Shows how schools can help students navigate the Internet's complex, often disorganized information landscape and decide about important issues affecting their lives and times. Students must become "infotectives" adept at framing essential questions, planning a cyberspace voyage, collecting pertinent information, changing course, exploiting…

Discusses the impact of online technologies on secondary analysis of survey research performance. Reviews current online public opinion sources and presents a model for interactive online analysis of survey data. Argues that survey data should be more easily available to all potential users. (Author/AEF)

Examines how people find information online in the context of their other media use and general Internet use patterns, and uses information about demographic background and social support networks. Describes the methodology, and suggests a mix of survey instruments and in-person observations can yield the type of data necessary to understand the…

Despite countless networking and interactive possibilities, the most commonly assigned use of classroom technology during 1997-98 was word processing, followed by Internet research and information gathering. Schools' reliance on general-purpose computing devices will eventually yield to lower cost, hand-held, and networked devices. (Contains 10…

As the number of World Wide Web sites continues to grow at an explosive rate, the need for design guidelines also increases. Although there are a number of resources that provide guidance on structure and content, few address the motivational aspects of Web sites. The Website Motivational Analysis Checklist (WebMAC) was developed to help diagnose…