This post is an interview with Dr. Janet Salmons, the instructor on the SAGE Campus Gather Your Data Online course, which gives an overview of types of data and ways to find and generate them online to use for research.
Q: Hi Janet, tell us a bit about yourself?
I am motivated by the potential of communications technologies to help us connect and learn from one another across the usual disciplinary, cultural, and geographic boundaries. I was an early adopter for uses of the Internet for collaboration, instruction, and research. I started offering webinars as soon as the technology was available, and I taught and supervised PhD student researchers for 15 years in one of the first university programs to offer Masters and doctoral degrees online. My current focus is on writing and working with researchers and writers.
I live in Boulder, Colorado and when I am off the computer, I enjoy hiking and traveling, painting, and art journaling.
Q: You’re the instructor for Gather Your Data Online course! What inspired you to make an online course with SAGE Campus on this topic?
I am a believer in learning-by-doing. I wanted to bring the Gather Your Data Online book to life, and give researchers a chance to work through design choices and practice new skills.
Q: Who do you think will most benefit from your course?
Anyone, whether undergraduate novices, postgraduates, or experienced social researchers, who want to learn how to navigate the design process and find new approaches for collecting data online. The examples in the course include published articles and case studies from a range of disciplines, making this course suitable to anyone conducting research in social sciences, education, business, sociology, etc.
Q: Why do you think researchers find this topic so tricky? And why is it so important for institutions to get it right when teaching this?
One word: ethics. The online environment is both wonderful and treacherous. The ways we go about data collection in person do not entirely translate online. There are real quandaries about identity, privacy, and how to protect participants. It is important to get it right because as researchers we need to uphold ethical standards and respectful practices.
Q: What advice can you give faculty teaching students how to work with online data?
Help your students think through the implications of their research design choices, and instill a healthy respect for ethics as an ongoing part of research, not just an approval process at the proposal stage.
Q: What’s a top tip/take away from your course?
Consider all the options before deciding how to proceed with online data collection. Don’t be afraid to engage directly with participants.
