So it's been a while since I updated this blog. It turns out that trying to write a blog post on developing Web Science topics was a bit too time-consuming once my PhD actually started, and sharing these stories was much easier in microblog form on Twitter. I've been thinking though, that a blog is still useful for sharing more detailed views and opinions on some things, and would be a great way to provide details of my PhD progress. So I have decided to change track, I have created a new blog which I will use as a more personal account of my PhD, and will continue to tweet about Web Science issues and stories that make the news.
I will leave this blog here so that my old posts are still available in their original location. There are some posts that I have already thought of revisiting, and so when I write something new about them, I will dive back into this blog to provide an updated message to point readers to the updated posts.
The Web Science Perspective
A Web Scientist's attempt to link the news to the Web.
Thursday, 5 July 2012
Sunday, 25 September 2011
Ethical Confusion when Studying the Web
One area of the research process which has struck me as being in need of refinement for studying the Web is the procedure for obtaining ethical approval. Specifically, the ethics of using a social network such as Twitter as a data source for a study.
A general ethics application procedure for a project may question whether the study involves human participants, and if so, whether it will collect “personal data” (data which could potentially identify a participant). Often, it is assumed that if there are no human participants, then personal data will not be collected. If there are humans participating, then issues revolving around sensitive data, risk of harm, deception, consent, and right to withdraw become significant. This makes sense for a psychological lab experiment, for example. For a study on the Web, this causes great confusion.
Sunday, 24 July 2011
My Thoughts on Google+
One of the great things about studying the Web is that you can sign up for new social networks and feel like its justified in your quest to understand the Web’s development. I would have signed up for Google+ regardless of whether I was studying Web Science or not, but doing so means that I don’t feel like I’m wasting time trying out something which basically just replicates the features of other services I use, and instead it has got me thinking about the potential disruption it could cause to the current ecosystem of social networks.
Saturday, 18 June 2011
eBook Pricing
Following on from a previous post where I grumbled about digital music, I now have another source of bewilderment regarding digital content: eBook pricing. Looking on Amazon.co.uk for the new James Bond novel (Carte Blanche) and hoping to be able to get a reduced price version for Kindle (Amazon’s eBook reader device), I was frustrated to find that the Kindle price was no lower than the hardback price: £9.99.
Saturday, 7 May 2011
Google Search Globe
I just found this on Google's blog and thought I would share it as not only does it look cool, it has strong ties to Web Science regarding the different languages used on the Web across the globe. The globe shows a day's worth of searches, with each language that a query is made in represented by a different colour. While it doesn't seem surprising to see far fewer queries in certain areas of the world, I still find it shocking to see how much of a difference there is between continents.
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