Internet methodology - difficulties and opportunities offered by the Internet in conducting research. Analysis of the phenomenon in the light of the literature on the subject

Aim. A theoretical review of the opportunities and functions of the application enabling the creation of internet surveys. Assessment of their use in accordance with own opinion and the analysis of the literature on the subject.Methods. Analysis of the literature on the subject and a summary of the description of the survey conducted on the basis of a questionnaire examining the interesting phenomenon of e-methodology and an opinion on distance learning. The authors analysed the advantages and disadvantages of the tools used in online research. The aforementioned experiences of the researchers refer to the experience gained during research on e-methodology.Results and conclusion. The interest in this medium as a tool for social and psychological research has been growing rapidly in the last ten years. The very rapid development of technology that has taken place during the COVID-19 pandemic allowed us to easilyconduct a research survey using the network, which can easily replace any labour-intensive data collection through inquiry. In addition, many different tools and techniques have been created that use the so-called “Global spider web” in conducting my own research. Theresearcher abandons direct contact with the respondent and devotes himself to the analysis of the phenomenon that interests him by analysing the given Internet environment, social groups that express themselves on a given topic or share their work on specifi c problems. However, the global network is not only a chance for good, innovative approach to research, but also threats and related difficulties. One of the most important weaknesses of the network is the fact that we can never be sure who is on the other end of the computer.Cognitive value. Presentation of new ways of conducting scientific research via the network, presenting my own analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of the e-methodology phenomenon. Analysing the phenomenon of internet methodology, welearn that the tendency to participate in internet research is increasing. However, motivation to participate in internet research is not always sufficient, as mentioned by many researchers. There are many ways to infl uence the attractiveness of the research and the motivation to participate in the research. Thanks to this article, we also learn that it is still necessary to conduct further methodological research on increasing the effectiveness of Internet research and minimising errors associated with it. The issues presented in this article reflect the current methodological knowledge. We can predict that as the Internet grows and new technical opportunities emerge - such as video-enabled applications, among others - new methodological issues will arise that may be of interest to researchers.

Studying the Meta-Accuracy First Impressions in the Pandemic and Post-Pandemic Reality: Challenges and Opportunities Presented by Internet Research

Aim. Studying first impressions meta-accuracy (how accurately we understand thefirst impressions others form about us) is central to enhancing the communication process.It typically requires experimental settings with at least minimal interactions between targets and perceivers. The COVID-19 pandemic has rendered face-to-face laboratory setupsalmost impossible. Fortunately, the Internet offers a virtual environment where the metaaccuracy of first impressions could be studied safely. We review the opportunities andchallenges associated with the Internet study of meta-accuracy and make a call for actionto address them.Concept. In certain ways the Internet facilitates the study of first impressions metaaccuracy. It is simpler and faster online, compared to the lab, to look at fi rst impressionsin asynchronous settings, such as email and social media updates, where targets presentthemselves via images and/or text and perceivers later form impressions based on thisinformation. The Internet research solution, however, also comes with an array of difficulties. Synchronous communication settings, where targets and perceivers exchange information without delay, (e.g., instant messaging), present three major types of challenges tostudy of first impression meta-accuracy—conceptual (e.g., differences between online andoffline first impression situations), technological (e.g., implementation of chat applications inInternet surveys), and policy-driven (e.g., GDPR).Conclusions. The opportunities and challenges presented by the Internet in the studyof first impression meta-accuracy also apply to the larger field of studying human interaction online. Discussing and addressing them has the potential to enhance Internet researchtools and practices for the humanities and social sciences.

Developing a Theoretical Framework for Processing the Negative Information in Social Media

The author explores the fundamental aspects of the rational decision-making process with the aim of understanding that negative information has the possibility to distort processing of political information. This article further develops a theoretical framework of the relationship between negative information on social media and its receiver. This article conducts an empirical analysis to partially prove this framework with the Twitter texts spread by the Internet Research Agency (IRA). This analysis indicates that: (1) tweets containing negative information had more interaction than tweets containing positive information; (2) tweets containing anger-inducing content had more interaction than tweets containing fearful content. These results suggest that negative emotion would have a more significant effect on this process, and different negative emotions can have a distinct effect on information processing.

Relationship between internet research data of oral neoplasms and public health programs in the European Union

Background Tobacco and alcohol are the main risk factors for oral squamous cell carcinoma, the low survival rate of which is a public health problem. European-wide health policies (a prevention campaign, tobacco packaging) have been put in place to inform the population of the risks associated with consumption. Due to the increase in smoking among women, the incidence of this disease remains high. The identification of internet research data on the population could help to measure the impact of and better position these preventive measures. The objective was to analyze a potential temporal association between public health programs and interest in oral cancers on the internet in the European Union (EU). Methods A search of data from Google ©, Wikipedia © and Twitter © users in 28 European countries relating to oral cancer between 2004 and 2019 was completed. Bibliometric analysis of press and scientific articles over the same period was also performed. The association between these data and the introduction of public health programs in Europe was studied. Results There was a temporal association between changes in tobacco packaging and a significant increase in internet searches for oral cancer in seven countries. Unlike national policies and ad campaigns, the European awareness program Make Sense has had no influence on internet research. There was an asymmetric correlation in internet searches between publications on oral cancer from scientific articles or "traditional" media (weak association) and those from internet media such as Twitter © or Wikipedia © (strong association). Conclusion Our work highlights seven areas around which oral cancer awareness in Europe could be refocused, such as a change in the communication of health warnings on cigarette packs, the establishment of a more explicit campaign name regarding oral cancer, the involvement of public figures and associations in initiatives to be organized at the local level and the strengthening of awareness of the dangers of tobacco in the development of oral cancer.

Let’s publish full-text scientific articles in HTML, not just PDF

The digital age has enabled unprecedented opportunities in the dissemination of information. Thanks to the Internet, research results are available to virtually anyone in the world. Thanks to platforms such as the Open Journal System, a scientific journal can be published by practically anyone with minimal demands on resources, and even a relatively small editorial team can focus more on the quality of published articles than on the editorial process itself. Nevertheless, publishing procedures have recently been adopted which do not allow parts of readers to have seamless access to the content of scientific articles.

Research on Secure Data Transmission Algorithm Based on Confidence of Wireless Opportunistic Networks for Energy Internet

The Energy Internet is a leading development direction for the modernized and intelligent transformation of the power grid, and a new type of infrastructure that supports the high-quality development of the economy and society. With the access of a variety of mobile terminals, security is one of the most important challenges faced in the construction of Energy Internet. Research on reliable networking and data forwarding strategies on the edge is of great significance to its development. On the basis of analyzing the requirements of typical application scenarios, we introduce in this paper a secure data transmission algorithm based on confidence of wireless opportunistic networks for Energy Internet to resist the influence of malicious behaviours. The simulations of real scenes confirm the advantages of introducing our algorithm on parameters such as the success rate and the delay of data transmission.

AOIR ETHICS PANEL 1: PRACTICES AND ROADMAPS

This panel is one of two sessions organized by the AoIR Ethics Working Committee. It collects four papers exploring a broad (but shared) range of practices that present ethical challenges in internet research, while also providing possible roadmaps towards addressing these concerns. These include: the risks and challenges researchers face when researching far-right communities online; the ethical dilemmas faced when researching online sexual crimes involving children; the ethical grey zones researchers have to navigate when research environments fail to provide appropriate tools and protocols to keep pace with changing regulations; an analysis of data ethics syllabi in order to provide a framework to guide how we teach data and internet ethics. Taken together, the papers in this panel discussion engage with novel domains of internet research and shine a light on the unique ethical questions increasingly confronting researchers, while also striving to provide possible guidance on how to start addressing these dilemmas. These papers are among those under consideration for publication in a special issue of the Journal of Information, Communication and Ethics in Society associated with the AoIR Ethics Working Committee and AoIR2021.

GUY NEXT DOOR AND IMPLAUSIBLY ATTRACTIVE YOUNG WOMEN: THE VISUAL FRAMES OF SOCIAL MEDIA PROPAGANDA

This study introduces a mixed-methods approach to classifying the visual frames of state-sponsored social media propaganda. We relied on Twitter’s Election Integrity data to sample five key propaganda targets of the Internet Research Agency (IRA), including Russian and American partisan groups. We manually coded profile images and subsequently applied qualitative and quantitative processing to the images. The visual motifs identified in IRA Twitter profiles allowed us to explore how their operations deviated from canonical state propaganda marked by symbols of national identify and heroic masculinity. Indeed, the results show that the visual frames employed by the Internet Research Agency are designed to embody the vox populi with relatable, familiar, or attractive faces of ordinary people. The results also show that IRA influence operations displayed cultural acuity and familiarity with the social identity of their targets, and that the visual narrative it crafted trafficked primarily in the tropes of regular guys or implausibly attractive young women. We discuss these findings and argue that state propaganda has effectively attuned to both subcultural and visual affordances of social platforms.

Conducting Online Healthcare Research With Open-Ended Questions in the Age of COVID-19: A Critical Review

BackgroundWorldwide, there is a remarkable increase in Internet use, with a current penetration rate of 62%. This widespread Internet use and the global coronavirus disease (COVID-19) preventive measures provide opportunities for data collection using the Internet in healthcare research. No recent studies have been conducted regarding the methodological issues of asynchronous Internet research that employed opened-ended questions to explore providers’ and patients’ experiences.PurposeThis study utilizes prior research to explore methodological issues that affect online research using open-ended questions to obtain health data.MethodsThe electronic databases searched were PubMed, CINAHL, and full-text Ovid. Reference lists and the Journal of Medical Internet Research were manually searched. The search strategy was based on the PRISMA flow diagram. Articles published between January 2003 and May 2020 were searched. Inclusion criteria were asynchronous online researcher-led studies that used open-ended questions to explore healthcare issues. Methodological issues were extracted from the selected studies.ResultsThe evidence suggests that factors such as technical/website study/survey design issues, smartphone study applications, use of reminders, incentives, overrecruiting participants, using a combination of asynchronous and synchronous methods, trustworthiness, ethical and security issues affect the quality of data obtained in online health research.Implications for PracticeAsynchronous online research methods with open-ended questions could be used to collect high-quality data from patients, healthcare providers, and other participants in self-isolation, quarantine, and in diverse locations. However, researchers should be aware of the identified methodological issues. Future research could explore methodological issues and data quality in combined asynchronous and synchronous data collection methods.