Internet-based Research Research Articles

Syntactic priming in English sentence production: categorical and latency evidence from an Internet-based study.

To date, syntactic priming in sentence production has been investigated categorically, in terms of the probabilities of reusing particular syntactic structures. In this paper, we report a web-based replication of Pickering and Branigan (1998), Experiment 1, using a typed sentence completion paradigm that made it possible to record not only the responses made but also the response onset latency for each sentence completion. In conditions where priming occurred (as determined categorically), responses took less time when target completions were of the same type as preceding prime completions than when they differed. As well as validating Internet-based research by direct comparison with laboratory-based work, our findings strengthen the support for an architectural account of syntactic priming as envisaged by Pickering and Branigan.

E‐Research: Ethics, Security, Design, and Control in Psychological Research on the Internet

Differences between traditional laboratory research and Internet‐based research require a review of basic issues of research methodology. These differences have implications for research ethics (e.g., absence of researcher, potential exposure of confidential data and/or identity to a third party, guaranteed debriefing) and security (e.g., confidentiality and anonymity, security of data transmission, security of data storage, and tracking participants over time). We also review basic design issues a researcher should consider before implementing an Internet study, including the problem of participant self‐selection and loss of experimental control on the Internet laboratory. An additional challenge for Internet‐based research is the increased opportunity for participant misbehavior, intentional or otherwise. We discuss methods to detect and minimize these threats to the validity of Internet‐based research.

Studying Hate Crime with the Internet: What Makes Racists Advocate Racial Violence?

We conducted semistructured interviews with 38 participants in White racist Internet chat rooms, examining the extent to which people would, in this unique environment, advocate interracial violence in response to purported economic and cultural threats. Capitalizing on the anonymity and candor of chat room interactions, this study provides an unusual perspective on extremist attitudes. We experimentally manipulated the nature and proximity of the threats. Qualitative and quantitative analyses indicate that the respondents were most threatened by interracial marriage and, to a lesser extent, Blacks moving into White neighborhoods. In contrast, job competition posed by Blacks evoked very little advocacy of violence. The study affords an assessment of the advantages and limitations of Internet‐based research with clandestine populations.

The Status of Internet-Based Research in Five Leading Communication Journals, 1994–1999

In light of recent calls to action regarding Internet research, this study examines the content, frequency, and pattern of published Internet-based research articles in five leading communication journals for the primary purpose of assessing how these journals have kept pace with the Internet's influence on the communication process. A content analysis of 961 articles reveals that less than 4 percent focused on the Internet during the examined six-year timeframe. However, the total number of Internet-related articles published per year appeared to increase over time. Several challenges faced by communication researchers and journals in positioning the Internet within the discipline are discussed.

View from an Electronic Learning Environment: Perceptions and Patterns among Students in an Online Graduate Education Course

The study examined perceptions and patterns of technology use among graduate students enrolled in an online education course. Eight participant profiles and case studies—consisting of subjects currently teaching in a public school environment and also enrolled in a Masters' program; subjects employed as public school substitute teachers and also enrolled in a non-degree teacher licensure program, and one non-employed graduate student—were examined and analyzed. A qualitative approach to research was implemented using the constant comparative method of data analysis. Data in the form of participant observer field notes, sample products completed by participants, online Discussion Board postings, research papers, participant presentations, onsite discussions, generated reports regarding online course access patterns, and information gleaned from a summative Online Course Evaluation Survey revealed specific patterns of technology use, learning preferences, and benefits of an online university environment. Results from the study indicate that students preferred to work at specific hours of the day, engaged in research-supported online discussions with a high rate of activity, and preferred to complete Internet-based research assignments. Additional findings show that by participating in an online graduate-level course—which required frequent action research, inquiry-based projects—participants were able to connect typical education content with relevant classroom experiences. In addition, those participants, who at the time of the study were employed as public school teachers, were able to successfully incorporate teleresearch into their own classroom teaching.

Who participates in Internet-based self-management programs? A study among novice computer users in a primary care setting.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the participation rates and factors associated with nonparticipation among primary care patients who were invited to join an Internet-based self-management research program. Primary care providers invited their patients with type 2 diabetes to participate in an Internet-based diabetes self-management support program. Research staff contacted these patients by phone to assess their eligibility and interest in participating. Reasons for declining were assessed and demographic/medical status information was collected. Of the eligible patients, 60% participated in the program. No significant differences were found between participants and decliners in gender, insulin use, computer familiarity, or computer ownership. There were significant differences in age and years since diagnosis. Participants were slightly younger and had diabetes for a fewer number of years than nonparticipants. Nonparticipation was not related to computer or Internet issues. Most older diabetes patients without previous Internet experience will take part in Internet-based self-management support programs if barriers to participation are addressed.

Using Technology to Examine the Entity-Choice Decision

The AICPA Model Tax Curriculum (AICPA 1996a) stresses the importance of entity taxation throughout the first two undergraduate tax courses and a master's of accounting program. This paper provides instructors with a case that uses a simplified example of the Boston Celtics, a publicly traded partnership, to highlight the tax and nontax considerations that must be evaluated when making a choice of entity decision. The case also incorporates technological tools including CD-ROM or Internet-based tax research, Excel spreadsheets for preparing tax and cash flow projections, word-processing software, and an optional PowerPoint presentation. The case is designed to be completed in stages throughout the semester.

Enhancing Computer-Mediated Teaching through Interactivity: The Second Iteration of a World Wide Web-Based Graduate Social Work Course

Objective This study evaluated the effects of increasing opportunities for interactivity on student attitudes and behavior over two iterations of an Internet-based graduate social work research methods course. Method In both iterations, lectures and class discussions were carried out over the Internet. In the second iteration, additional opportunities for interaction (self-tests, automated feedback, discussion questions, and links to an Internet discussion list) were added. Type and frequency of class participation were measured for both iterations as well as attitude toward the course. Results Students in the second iteration participated in class list discussions more frequently than their first iteration counterparts. Students in the second iteration also tended to rate their experience more positively than did their counterparts in the first class. Conclusion The incorporation of interactivity into a Web site served to make it easier to create an active learning environment for students.

Distributed measurement and control based on the IEEE 1451 smart transducer interface standards

This paper details a framework developed at NIST that highlights the standardization efforts going on within the various levels of an Internet-based distributed measurement and control (DMC) system. The framework highlights state-of-the-art hardware and software techniques used at NIST to design, implement, and deploy next-generation Internet-based DMC applications and systems. The framework targets three important areas of standardization including transducer interfaces, open network communication, and distributed application development. An implementation of a DMC application on the Internet based on the NIST framework is also described. The paper concludes with a brief introduction to other research activities at NIST culminating from this core Internet-based DMC research.

Research Methodology

The Survey2000 Project is the largest and most comprehensive Internet-based social science survey to date. Along with generating interesting data about geographic mobility, feelings of community, and culinary, literary, and musical tastes, the experience of operating a survey with Internet tools has set into sharp relief important methodological issues of sample size, representation, and generalization. The authors argue that Internet-based survey research can yield meaningfully comparable data about both Internet users and larger populations.

The predictive power of internet-based product concept testing using visual depiction and animation

One critical step in new product development is selecting from among multiple possible product concepts the one that the firm will carry forward into the marketplace. There is a need for low-cost, parallel testing of the appeal of new product concepts, the results of which closely mirror ultimate market performance. In this article, the authors first describe an Internet-based product concept testing method they developed that incorporates virtual prototypes of new product concepts, substituting them for physical prototypes. The method can be used with either static representations of the products or with dynamic representations that demonstrate how the product works through a simulated video clip of its operation. The objective of this method is to allow design teams to select the best of several new concepts within a product category with which to proceed, without having to develop physical prototypes. The authors then provide a rigorous test of both virtual prototype methods against tests using both physical prototypes and attribute-only (i.e., no visuals), full-profile conjoint analysis. Nine concepts compete against two actual products in the tests. Market shares from the test using the physical prototypes are defined as the “actual” market shares. Predicted market shares for the attribute-only, full-profile conjoint analysis and each of the two virtual prototype methods are compared to those obtained for the physical prototypes. Both static and animated virtual prototype tests produced market shares that closely mirrored those obtained with the physical products, outperforming the set of predictions across the full range of products produced in the attribute-only conjoint analysis. Interestingly, the attribute-only conjoint analysis identified the top three products, in correct order. It was unable to differentiate performance below these top three products. Furthermore, it predicted market shares for the top three products to be well below those achieved using physical prototypes. As virtual prototypes cost considerably less to build and test than their physical counterparts, design teams using Internet-based product concept research may be able to afford to explore a much larger number of concepts. Virtual prototypes and the testing methods associated with them may help reduce the uncertainty and cost of new product introductions by allowing more ideas to be concept tested in parallel with target consumers.

Age of Clutter: Conducting Effective Research Using the Internet

Using the Internet as a research tool presents new challenges including coping with information overload, problems obtaining and evaluating quality sources, and successfully integrating the information obtained using critical thinking. This article briefly describes the problems related to conducting research on the Internet. It then proposes a solution to help individuals conduct effective and efficient Internet-based business research. A sample World Wide Web-based search is provided to illustrate the essential strategies and steps necessary for conducting effective Internet research.

Privacy Issues in Internet Surveys

Surveys administered over the Internet have been plagued by low response rates and at times have provoked respondent rebellions against researchers who stand accused of broadcasting noxious unwanted e-mail or “spam.” This article examines the issue from the perspective of social science research on privacy in an effort to understand the unique privacy context of Internet-based survey research. Online surveyors commit multiple violations of physical, informational, and psychological privacy that can be more intense than those found in conventional survey methods. Internet surveys also invade the interactional privacy of online communities, a form of privacy invasion seldom encountered with traditional survey methods. The article concludes with recommendations for improving response rates to online surveys using accepted privacy protection practices already found on the Internet as well as emerging Internet technologies.

Electronic Advocacy in Policy Practice

The 1990s have not been easy times for social welfare advocates and their clients. Not only must advocacy efforts contend with repressive new legislation, but the creation of a new, diffuse policy environment makes many traditional advocacy techniques either ineffective or difficult to use. This article examines the forces that confront today's advocate, suggests ways to address these issues with new technologically based advocacy techniques, and suggests ways to incorporate these techniques into the social welfare policy curriculum. Techniques discussed include database applications, e-mail, Internet publishing, and Internet-based research.

The Canadian Perinatal Network: A Proposed Internet-based Research Collaboration

The Canadian Perinatal Network: A Proposed Internet-based Research Collaboration

A Users Approach To Constructing The Business Reporting Model: An Internet-Based Research Case

This case aids the exploration of exploring the financial disclosure requirements proposed by the AICPA Special Committee on Financial Reporting (i.e., the Jenkins Committee). The premise of the Committees report was to propose a model for comprehensive business reporting that is closer in line with the needs of financial statement users. This case provides a reusable framework for investigating and report upon the availability of current information disclosures available for a given company and facilitates a comparison with those disclosures advocated by the Jenkins Committee. The re-usability feature is derived from the uniqueness that each company report will have based upon the information available for a given company at a given point in time. Hence, the case will differ for each student assignment in the same semester and will also differ from one semester to the next. Five primary objectives have been specifically addressed: (1) to raise students awareness of evolving issues I the accounting profession, (2) to facilitate students understanding of the real changes in current reporting that may evolve from the Jenkins Committee, (3) to understand the difficulties faced by financial statement users who currently must search for additional disclosures through multiple information sources of questionable reliability, (4) to provide a meaningful analysis of financial statement content and disclosures, and (5) to demonstrate how the Internet can be used as s tool for aggregating information when conducting business research and analysis.

Trust but verify: caution in the application of Internet-based research

Are Internet-based research results sufficiently trustworthy? In 314 adults ages 18-82, systematic personality trait differences existed among broadband users, dial-up users and Internet non-users. Greater levels of openness and extraversion correlated with greater degrees of home Internet access in black subjects and in those over 40. No systematic differences were observed in white subjects and in those under 40. Internet sampling’s ease cannot free researchers from the obligation to identify anomalous results and to pursue diverse samples using diverse methods, particularly critical as United States populations become more diverse and long-lived.