Researching New Media

Academic departments concerned with new media are being launched at an explosive rate. Still, few textbooks have been published devoted to the methodological issues associated with studying new media. Researching New Media is a much-needed university-level methodology textbook that provides an overview and assessment of research methods employed in investigations of new media. This book is to serve as the primary text for upper division and graduate-level university courses concerned with the new communication technologies; it will also satisfy the needs of experienced researchers entering the domain of new media for the first time. A wide variety of illustrations of empirical research around new media are included in each chapter, along with core references, supplementary URLs and review questions. Topics covered include:

· online survey research

· social network analysis

· virtual ethnography

· analysis of hypertext documents

· and the ethics of conducting research on the internet.

A special web site complements the textbook and continues to provide up-to-date material valuable for both students and scholars.