Reflections on networks, human behaviour, and social dynamics in the digital age (original) (raw)

SOCIAL NETWORKS AND NEW POSSIBILITIES OF SOCIAL RESEARCH

The paper discusses the major changes in the methodology of the social research, which have been caused by the development of the Internet and social networks. In most developed countries, the population of Internet users is almost equal to the general population, and this trend will be followed by other countries. This creates a range of new opportunities for social research. The article lists some of these options. Unlike traditional communities, social networks act in a way that leaves a very extensive records about themselves and their activities. These data are in digital form, which makes them ideal for counting, classification, measurement, as well as a range of advanced statistical and other analyzes. Theoretically and practically it is possible to explore the entire population instead of its tiny snippets – samples. Unlike traditional, ad hoc samples, the data on social networks are available in a continuous series on the timeline, which makes it easier to identify and monitor trends and to get a deeper insight into the relations of correlation, association and causation. All this greatly improves descriptive level of study in comparison with the conventional method and methodology. The third section lists some of the research on the Internet and social networks, where the benefits of digitization and easier access to research population are evident.

Applications of Internet Methods in Psychology

2018

Web technology evolves quickly from Web 1.0 to Web 2.0 and even Web 3.0 since its birth in 1990s. Now it is not only a broadcasting channel (e.g., Wikipedia) but also a platform where people share their opinions, ideas, and sentiments with friends (e.g., social network sites). Therefore, more and more psychologists are interested in how the Web can help us investigate human mind and behaviors. In this chapter, I review different approaches of psychological studies on the Internet as a summary for the current applications of the Internet technology in psychology. The first approach is simply conducting surveys and experiments online, although caution is needed for some types of online experiment. The second approach is using the Internet search engine (e.g., Google or Wikipedia) to search for behavior criteria on Web pages. The last one is directly using social network sites (e.g., Facebook) to investigate people’s behaviors under online social contexts.

Research methods on the Internet

Gruyter Mouton. This chapter considers how the various internet communication technologies discussed in Section I can and have been used to support, and arguably transform, social and behavioural research methods. Focus here is on primary research, that is, "the acquisition and analysis of data to produce novel evidence and research findings" (Hewson, Laurent and Vogel, forthcoming). Primary research on the internet has been referred to as internet-mediated research (IMR) (Hewson et al. 2003) and this term will be adopted throughout the present chapter. The chapter will not consider secondary research on the internet, such as conducting a literature review or creating a bibliography; for useful guides on the latter see Hewson et al. (2003); Ó Dochartaigh (2012). The structure of the chapter is as follows: overview and history of IMR; scope and range of IMR methods, with illustrations; key issues and debates in IMR (data quality, sampling, ethics); future possibilities and ...

Behavioural Features of Various Social Groups on the Internet

Journal of Intellectual Disability - Diagnosis and Treatment, 2020

Objective: The objective of the article is to find an effective model for teaching children using modern educational technologies. Background: The relevance of the study is that the formation of communication in social networks is determined by the ability to search for strategies for social contacts. In this regard, a significant part of people uses a ready-made communicative model created on a technological basis in social networks. The issue of understanding the general structure of communication in the formation of the social structure of a person in adolescents remains debatable. Method: The article notes that the operation of social networks is governed by purely technical methods and technologies, which can be considered as prerequisites for the translation of such technologies into the space of social interactions. Results: The authors show that the possibility of a regulatory impact on adolescent behaviour fully meets the principles of organising network communities with an orientation on each person's individual characteristics. Conclusion: The use of Internet technologies allows for the growth and timely development of communication technologies for the formation of a balanced personality in a globalised world.