Online Researchers Research Articles

General Considerations for Conducting Online Qualitative Research and Practice Implications for Interviewing People with Acquired Brain Injury

Qualitative methodology is key to understanding the lived experience of people with acquired brain injury (ABI). However, as demonstrated during the global pandemic (COVID-19), face-to-face interviewing is not always viable. This lack of availability has been particularly relevant for people with disability who are at increased risk of contracting the virus and experiencing poorer outcomes. Fortunately, advancing technologies provide increasing opportunities for communicating online, thus it is plausible for qualitative disability researchers to adapt to remote interviewing. People with ABI often experience varying degrees of cognitive and communication impairments and therefore require specific considerations in the planning of research projects. In this paper, we examine learnings from existing literature around online qualitative research, specifically for videoconference, focus groups and email-interviewing methods. The key aim is to map out the practical, ethical and methodological considerations when adapting research to an online environment. As interviewing people with ABI online has received little attention in the literature, learnings from broader disability populations and the general population inform much of the considerations. Thus, the suggestions for practice are likely to be relevant to a broader population, but specific implications for people with ABI are discussed. Overall, we propose that it is viable, and sometimes preferable, to utilize online interview techniques but researchers must take care to consider the practical, ethical and methodological implications of doing so.

#Bias: The Opportunities and Challenges of Surveys That Recruit and Collect Data of Autistic Adults Online.

What is the purpose of this article?: Our purpose was to describe challenges in conducting and analyzing data from surveys of autistic adults, recruited and completed online.What is already known on the topic?: Health outcomes for autistic adults are understudied by crucial areas of autism research. While researchers are interested in the outcomes of autistic adults, this type of research is difficult because many autistic adults are not formally diagnosed, so not available to recruit for studies through clinic registries. Furthermore, study participation can be a long, inconvenient, and stressful process. It is not surprising then that we are seeing internet surveys of autistic adults become a popular tool to reach this population. We wanted to offer an overview and recommendations of these issues to researchers and people who read research about topics pertaining to autistic adults.What are the perspectives of the authors?: We are epidemiologists at Boston University and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. We both conduct research centered in improving health and well-being for autistic people across the life span. As people who study research methods, we have seen a lot of new research using survey methods. This research is intriguing, but all too often the articles need more information so we can be sure that the research is high quality. We want to share ways to improve this type of research and to help people in understanding the strengths and limitations of online survey research.What do the authors recommend?: We offer a few considerations for researchers working in this area. (1) Make the steps you took to do the research as clear as possible. (2) Be specific about who you intend to study and who you ended up studying. (3) Present the demographics and characteristics of the participants. (4) If possible, consider using data analysis methods to account for selection bias and sample identifiability issues. (5) Do not make statements that are not supported for your study results. (6) Acknowledge that we are at the beginning of studying autistic adults. (7) Advocate for more funding for research in autistic adults.How will these recommendations help autistic adults now or in the future?: Online surveys are an important tool for researchers to generate hypotheses and connect with a wider range of participants. However, online surveys have unique methodological challenges. We hope that this perspective raises the topic of bias and misinterpretation in online surveys and researchers continue to produce valid and meaningful work that is crucial to improving lives of autistic adults.

Factors Affecting the Behavioral Intention and Behavior of Using E–Wallets of Youth in Vietnam

The study examines an empirical case that explores the key constructs of the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) (Venkatesh, Morris, Davis & Davis, 2003) and the relationship between security and privacy of the Theory of Perceived Risk (TPR) (Bauer, 1960). This study employs survey data of 200 young Internet users aged 18 to 25. The study was conducted through two steps: preliminary research by qualitative research method to form the official research scale then formal research by quantitative research method using CFA and SEM to test the research model. The research results show that performance expectancy and social influence significantly predict behavioral intention to use e-wallets in payment. In contrast, the factors, namely, security and privacy, and effort expectancy, are statistically insignificant on behavioral intention. Nevertheless, the facilitating conditions factor still affects the behavior of using e-wallets. The study proposes a model to generalize the online payment environment through the integration of UTAUT and TPR models that are important for online payment management and researchers in the technology environment. The findings of this study suggest that social influence significantly affects the intention of young people to use e-wallets instead of security and privacy.

Are You a Robot? Revitalizing Online Learning and Discussion Boards for Today’s Modern Learner

Engagement and motivation of online students have been explored by many online instructors and researchers. This article presents the rationale that online engagement is best achieved when both students and instructors are actively motivated by course learning and objectives. Modern learners enjoy interactive and practical exercises to demonstrate their knowledge in addition to student-instructor contact. Instructors can bring their best to the class when they use creative and innovative teaching strategies that foster student learning and its application. Tips to enhance student and instructor engagement in online courses, particularly through online discussion boards, are explored which can help to positively impact the online class experience.

A Pragmatic Study on E-Learning System for Higher Education in Developing Countries

The Internet has become one of the greatest inventions of mankind for learning and sharing of useful information through electronic means. For some years now, the developed nations have adopted the use of the e-learning system. Presently, the COVID-19 outbreak has given rise to the adoption of the e-learning system by many countries of the world being the most viable alternative for teaching and learning. This paper uses a pragmatic approach to evaluates the benefits and challenges associated with the e-learning system. A survey was conducted among students in a higher institution and a total of one hundred and twenty-five responses was gathered from the online questionnaire to know the likely challenges faced by students with the e-learning system and also at an online researchers’ forum. The result shows that 30.40% of students complained about weak internet connectivity from the questionnaire administered which is also the major problem in most developing nations, and for optimal performance of the e-learning system, there should be adequate provision for strong internet connectivity, standard IT infrastructure, and user-friendly e-learning platform.

Retail brand equity: moderating role of retail price deals on retail brand association and retail brand equity relationship

The online retail industry is a unique setup with high market potential and the low entry barriers where most of the retailers sell the same products under different price points. Though the price of the products is same for all the retailers, they use discounts, offers, price cuts, refunds and other methods to acquire and retain customers. Under these conditions, this research is emphasised on demonstrating the sources of retailer equity and intended to test the moderating effect of price deals on retailer association and retailer brand equity relationship. This paper contributed to the existing retail brand equity frameworks by adding 'price deal' as a new dimension and explored the necessity of the e-tail quality dimension instead of perceived quality dimension in traditional brand equity frameworks. The results from this study will help online retailers and researchers to recognise the importance of the retailer equity dimensions and their criticality in creating a long-term relationship.

Retail brand equity: moderating role of retail price deals on retail brand association and retail brand equity relationship

The online retail industry is a unique setup with high market potential and the low entry barriers where most of the retailers sell the same products under different price points. Though the price of the products is same for all the retailers, they use discounts, offers, price cuts, refunds and other methods to acquire and retain customers. Under these conditions, this research is emphasised on demonstrating the sources of retailer equity and intended to test the moderating effect of price deals on retailer association and retailer brand equity relationship. This paper contributed to the existing retail brand equity frameworks by adding 'price deal' as a new dimension and explored the necessity of the e-tail quality dimension instead of perceived quality dimension in traditional brand equity frameworks. The results from this study will help online retailers and researchers to recognise the importance of the retailer equity dimensions and their criticality in creating a long-term relationship.

The Privacy Paradox of Adolescent Online Safety: A Matter of Risk Prevention or Risk Resilience?

By taking a more “teen-centric” instead of a “parent-centric” approach to adolescent online safety, researchers and designers can help teens foster a stronger sense of personal agency for self-regulating their own online behaviors and managing online risks. Technology should support teens in their developmental goals, including information seeking, learning about rules and boundaries, and maintaining social relationships, in addition to keeping them safe from online risks. However, this goal will only be accomplished once we listen more intently to teens as end users.

Privacy for whom?: a feminist intervention in online research practice

ABSTRACTAs shifts in technology and culture have complicated traditional definitions of privacy, researchers need new approaches to navigating privacy in online contexts. In this article, we argue that the experiences and perceptions of vulnerable groups must form the starting point for online researchers’ ethical decision-making, regardless of whether their research population qualifies as ‘vulnerable.’ This is especially important in spaces where privacy violations put people, particularly marginalized individuals, at risk for online harassment and abuse, among other harms. We seek to intervene in online research practices by putting forth a feminist approach to privacy, drawing on two studies related to online harassment. Specifically, we argue that feminist theory and methodology inform an approach to privacy that (a) starts from the lives of socially and politically vulnerable groups, (b) takes an intersectional approach to analyzing power relations, and (c) draws on a moral imperative of care and responsibility in enacting feminist principles of context, dialogue, and reflexivity throughout the research process. In doing so, we offer questions to prompt critical reflection on privacy concerns in online research.

A Fully Online Research Portal for Research Students and Researchers

Aim/Purpose: This paper describes the context, development, implementation, and the potential transferability of an integrated online research environment that allows its users to conduct all aspects of research online. Background: While the content of most traditional courses can be delivered online and learning outcomes can be achieved by adopting equivalents to face-to-face pedagogic approaches, certain courses, such as those that require a substantial research component, present significant constraints for delivery online. To overcome these limitations, Australia’s largest university developed and implemented a Research Portal. Methodology: The development team conducted a functional requirements analysis, identified the components that would be necessary to meet user needs, and reviewed existing solutions. The Monash University Psychology Research Portal was designed, tested, developed, tested for user experience, implemented, and reviewed. The Research Portal is structured according to the usual research sequence and provides users with access to supporting information and integrated capacities including research supervision, participant acquisition, and data collection, analysis, and storage. Contribution: This integrated online research environment is equivalent to and, in some ways, superior to an on campus/non-online research capacity. Findings: The usage of the Research Portal has grown rapidly and has satisfied the requirements and met the research needs of students of an online course that includes a research project, providing a common, ubiquitously accessible, and integrated online research environment. Recommendations for Practitioners: Further refinement, personalization, and expanded implementation and dissemination of the Research Portal components are required. The formation of networks and working partnerships to operate, maintain, and promote Research Portal initiatives is recommended to reduce operational costs, increase access, and create an impact. Impact on Society: The Research Portal is an efficient resource that provides easy access to a standard interface at any time and from anywhere and can potentially be used by other online research courses, as well as by online and non-online researchers.

Online Legal Research: A Practical Guide for Business Students and Professionals

<p><em>This article is intended to be a guide to business students and professionals in locating and assessing online legal information in the United States, providing a brief summary of primary and secondary sources of law and distinguishing between state and federal law as a backdrop to legal research. Researchers are encouraged to perform an online search with a tailored list of descriptive search terms. When evaluating online search results, a researcher should identify quality information based on its authority, accuracy, timeliness, objectivity, and coverage. If possible, online researchers should prefer government websites that provide timely, relevant information when retrieving online legal information. A researcher may begin an online search using secondary sources of law, but a successful search should conclude with the interpretation of primary sources of law.</em><em></em></p>

Estudo sobre os fatores que afetam a intenção de compras online

This study has as its general objective to define whether the factors virtual store, convenience, trust and promotion affect consumers’ purchase intention in online shopping. In previous studies held in other countries, except for promotion, the mentioned factors positively influenced on consumers’ purchase decision. Data were collected from a sample comprised by 704 respondents who have already made at least one purchase of products or services over the internet. As a methodological procedure, this is a descriptive and quantitative research, of which data were collected through a questionnaire that assessed the respondents’ online purchasing intention and their perception on the cited factors. Multiple linear regressions were used to test the hypothesis. The results of this research showed that the purchase intention of online consumers can be positively affected by the factors virtual store and promotion. Therefore, from the results presented, it is suggested that the understanding of factors that may affect the intention of purchase of online consumers in the dimensions of e‐commerce can help online retailers and researchers in the understanding and in explaining consumption behavior in virtual environments.

Online Interviewing: It’s Not as Simple as Point and Click

In Online Interviewing, Nalita James and Hugh Busher offer a thoughtful discussion of epistemological, methodological, and ethical considerations related to qualitative research in the online environment. They describe several forms of online interviews, as well as benefits and challenges associated with this form of research. The authors include practical tips for online researchers and examples from studies that employed online research methods.

METHODOLOGICAL CHALLENGES IN THE USE OF THE INTERNET FOR SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH: TEN SOLUTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Naukowcy, wydawcy oraz inni ludzie ze środowiska naukowego wykazali, i nadal wykazują, duże zainteresowanie i entuzjazm dla badań za pośrednictwem internetu. Badania metodologiczne dowiodły jednak istnienia szeregu wyzwań, które powinny zostać wzięte pod uwagę przez badaczy przy planowaniu swoich działań. Artykuł prezentuje sposoby rozwiązania dziesięciu problemów, pojawiających się dość powszechnie przy wykorzystaniu internetu w badaniach naukowych. Te przeszkody i sposoby rozwiązania to: powtórzenia lub wypełnianie przez tego samego użytkownika wielu ankiet, możliwość analizy różnic między grupami badawczymi, raportowanie zmiennych demograficznych uczestników ankiet internetowych, możliwość porównywania prób internetowych i laboratoryjnych, stabilność stosowanych narzędzi badawczych, międzynarodowy charakter internetu, możliwe zakłopotanie wynikające z badań online lub sposobu rekrutacji do niego, rezygnacje z badania i inne typy niskiego response rate, a także przekonanie, że badanie internetowe zawsze prowadzi do odmiennych wyników.

Job Satisfaction, Organizational Commitment, and Turnover Intention of Online Teachers in the K-12 Setting

The purpose of this study was to measure and explore factors influencing K-12 online teachers’ job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and turnover intentions. Using Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (1954), Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory of Satisfaction (1959, 1968), Meyer and Allen’s measure of Organizational Commitment (1997), and Fishbein and Ajzen’s Theory of Reasoned Action and Planned Behavior (1975), this mixed-methods study was conducted in public, private, charter, for-profit, and not-for-profit K-12 online schools in a single Southeastern state. The researchers used a sequential explanatory design by collecting and analyzing quantitative data and then qualitative data in two consecutive phases. Phase I included a 74-item survey with responses from 108 participants. Results revealed that K-12 online teachers have a moderate to high level of job satisfaction, which corresponds to their affective commitment to their organization and their intent to remain teaching in the online setting in the immediate, intermediate, and long-term future. Participants identified flexibility, meeting student needs, technical support, and their professional community as the most satisfying aspects of their jobs. Compensation, workload, missing face-to-face interaction with students, and unmotivated students were identified as least satisfying aspects of their work. In Phase II, eight qualitative focus group interviews were conducted and analyzed using constant comparative methods; these findings confirmed and illuminated quantitative results from Phase I. This study informs K-12 online school leaders, policymakers, and researchers of statistically significant variables that influence K-12 online teacher satisfaction, commitment, and retention.

Biomedical Scientific and Professional Social Networks in the Service of the Development of Modern Scientific Publishing.

Information technologies have found their application in virtually every branch of health care. In recent years they have demonstrated their potential in the development of online library, where scientists and researchers can share their latest findings. Academia.edu, ResearchGate, Mendeley, Kudos, with the support of platform GoogleScholar, have indeed increased the visibility of scientific work of one author, and enable a much greater availability of the scientific work to the broader audience. Online libraries have allowed free access to the scientific content to the countries that could not follow the economic costs of getting access to certain scientific bases. Especially great benefit occurred in countries in transition and developing countries. Online libraries have great potential in terms of expanding knowledge, but they also present a major problem for many publishers, because their rights can be violated, which are signed by the author when publishing the paper. In the future it will lead to a major conflict of the author, the editorial board and online database, about the right to scientific content This question certainly represents one of the most pressing issues of publishing, whose future in printed form is already in the past, and the future of the online editions will be a problem of large-scale.

An exploratory study of using 3D avatars as online salespeople

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to examine consumers’ perceptions of using different types of 3D animated avatars as salespeople based on credibility, homophily, attractiveness and intention to interact.Design/methodology/approach– Using a survey method, participants (n=120) evaluated four types of 3D animated avatars (i.e. human, fantasy, animal and humanoid) based on the supposition the avatars would represent a salesperson for an online retailer.Findings– The results show that avatar type has a significant influence on the perception of credibility, homophily, and attractiveness. Furthermore, credibility, homophily, and attractiveness significantly influence the intention to interact with the avatar. Overall, the human avatar was found to be perceived as the most credible, homophilous, attractive and was regarded as the highest in relation to intention to interact.Originality/value– The practical and theoretical implications are discussed to offer guidance to online retailers, graphic designers, and researchers in the benefits and pitfalls of utilizing 3D animated avatars as salespeople.

Developing Internet-based health interventions: a guide for public health researchers and practitioners.

BackgroundResearchers and practitioners interested in developing online health interventions most often rely on Web-based and print resources to guide them through the process of online intervention development. Although useful for understanding many aspects of best practices for website development, missing from these resources are concrete examples of experiences in online intervention development for health apps from the perspective of those conducting online health interventions.ObjectiveThis study aims to serve as a series of case studies in the development of online health interventions to provide insights for researchers and practitioners who are considering technology-based interventional or programmatic approaches.MethodsA convenience sample of six study coordinators and five principal investigators at a large, US-based land grant university were interviewed about the process of developing online interventions in the areas of alcohol policy, adolescent health, medication adherence, and human immunodeficiency virus prevention in transgender persons and in men who have sex with men. Participants were asked questions that broadly addressed each of the four phases of the User-Centered Design Process Map from the US Department of Health and Human Services' Research-Based Web Design & Usability Guidelines. Interviews were audio recorded and transcribed. Qualitative codes were developed using line-by-line open coding for all transcripts, and all transcripts were coded independently by at least 2 authors. Differences among coders were resolved with discussion.ResultsWe identified the following seven themes: (1) hire a strong (or at least the right) research team, (2) take time to plan before beginning the design process, (3) recognize that vendors and researchers have differing values, objectives, and language, (4) develop a detailed contract, (5) document all decisions and development activities, (6) use a content management system, and (7) allow extra time for testing and debugging your intervention. Each of these areas is discussed in detail, with supporting quotations from principal investigators and study coordinators.ConclusionsThe values held by members of each participating organization involved in the development of the online intervention or program, as well as the objectives that are trying to be met with the website, must be considered. These defined values and objectives should prompt an open and explicit discussion about the scope of work, budget, and other needs from the perspectives of each organization. Because of the complexity of developing online interventions, researchers and practitioners should become familiar with the process and how it may differ from the development and implementation of in-person interventions or programs. To assist with this, the intervention team should consider expanding the team to include experts in computer science or learning technologies, as well as taking advantage of institutional resources that will be needed for successful completion of the project. Finally, we describe the tradeoff between funds available for online intervention or program development and the complexity of the project.

Science teaching strategies developed in an online community of practice: a case study

Communities of practice CoPs have been presented in the literature as potential promoters of teaching strategies, however, with scarce empirical evidence. This paper's purpose is to present empirical evidence supporting the potential of online CoPs, involving teachers and researchers, for the development of effective science teaching practices. A single case study - the teaching strategies developed by an online CoP - was conducted, under the Portuguese project IPEC. Content analysis of the developed lesson plan and teaching resources was complemented with evidence from online interactions and dissemination papers produced by the CoP. The CoP developed a field trip combining diversified science teaching strategies, such as contextualised learning and questioning, referred in the literature as effective. The results also point to the evolution of the teachers' practices and, hence, they support the claim that online CoPs involving teachers and researchers can help improve science teaching practices.

A Novel Adaptive Conditional Probability-Based Predicting Model for User’s Personality Traits

With the pervasive increase in social media use, the explosion of users’ generated data provides a potentially very rich source of information, which plays an important role in helping online researchers understand user’s behaviors deeply. Since user’s personality traits are the driving force of user’s behaviors, hence, in this paper, along with social network features, we first extract linguistic features, emotional statistical features, and topic features from user’s Facebook status updates, followed by quantifying importance of features via Kendall correlation coefficient. And then, on the basis of weighted features and dynamic updated thresholds of personality traits, we deploy a novel adaptive conditional probability-based predicting model which considers prior knowledge of correlations between user’s personality traits to predict user’s Big Five personality traits. In the experimental work, we explore the existence of correlations between user’s personality traits which provides a better theoretical support for our proposed method. Moreover, on the same Facebook dataset, compared to other methods, our method can achieve anF1-measure of 80.6% when taking into account correlations between user’s personality traits, and there is an impressive improvement of 5.8% over other approaches.