Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

This book offers a clear and comprehensive introduction to the use of internet technology in research. It provides full accounts of the different ways in which online resources can help with research projects in any area of the social sciences or humanities along with useful hints and tips as to how you can make the internet work for you.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• List of Tables (p. viii)
• List of Figures (p. ix)
• Acknowledgements (p. x)
• Introduction: Why Bother with this Book? (p. xi)
• 1 What is the Internet and What are its Most Useful Research Tools? (p. 1)
• 2 Topic Development (p. 17)
• 3 Research Methods (p. 35)
• 4 Search Strategies, Engines and Directories (p. 51)
• 5 Research Ethics (p. 76)
• 6 Key Sources of Online Information (p. 88)
• 7 Using the Internet to Generate Individualised Datasets (p. 113)
• 8 Is Your Study Amenable to Online Implementation? (p. 129)
• 9 Data Analysis (p. 145)
• 10 Writing-up Your Research Paper or Dissertation (p. 160)
• 11 Plagiarism and Citation (p. 185)
• 12 Conclusion (p. 195)
• Appendix A Internet Country Codes (p. 198)
• Appendix B Top-level Domain Organisational Codes (p. 202)
• Appendix C Domain Codes for Individual US States (p. 203)
• Appendix D Writing Tips (p. 205)
• Appendix E Generating Diagrams and Charts (p. 207)
• Appendix F Selected Online Resources (p. 208)
• Glossary (p. 210)
• Index (p. 219)

Reviews provided by Syndetics

CHOICE Review

Dolowitz (politics, Univ. of Liverpool, UK), Buckler (political science and international studies, Univ. of Birmingham, UK), and Sweeney (comparative American studies, Univ. of Liverpool, UK) provide a good resource for those studying research design and planning to use the Internet in their study. Following an introduction to research design, the first chapter discusses the Internet, its structure, codes, and tools, including e-mail, Listserv, Usenet, and wikis, and how they might support research. The authors review skills in topic development and research design, enriched by online data collection techniques, surveys, search engines, and directories. A chapter on research ethics, with emphases on copyright, confidentiality, and netiquette, precedes a review of key sources of online information and ways to use the Internet to generate individualized data sets. The authors discuss ways to assure that one's study is amenable to online research, including successful contact of research participants and preparation of accessible text information. A review of qualitative and quantitative data analyses supported by Internet tools leads to tips on writing up the study, with discussions of incorporating graphics and citations and avoiding plagiarism. The authors conclude that "properly used ... the internet can be a platform from which serious study can be conducted." Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduate and professional collections. D. L. Stoloff Eastern Connecticut State University