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9 - Online Discussion Forums

A Rich and Vibrant Source of Data

from Part II - Media Data Collection

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 October 2017

By
David Giles
Edited by
Virginia Braun ,
Victoria Clarke  and
Debra Gray
Virginia Braun
Affiliation:
University of Auckland
Victoria Clarke
Affiliation:
University of the West of England, Bristol
Debra Gray
Affiliation:
University of Winchester
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Type
Chapter
Information
Collecting Qualitative Data
A Practical Guide to Textual, Media and Virtual Techniques
 , pp. 166 - 188
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2017

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References

Further Resources: Online

The website MOOD: The Microanalysis of Online Data is an international network of researchers from various disciplines who use methods such as conversation and discourse analysis to conduct ‘microanalysis’ of online data, including things like social media as well as discussion forums: (http://moodnetwork.ruhosting.nl/)

For another, more recent, scholarly network that offers a more linguistic orientation to discourse analysis, see http://adda.blogs.uv.es/

Further Resources: Readings

To read more about the study presented in Box 9.1, see Giles, D. C. (2014). ‘DSM-V is taking away our identity’: The reaction of the online community to the proposed changes in the diagnosis of Asperger’s disorder. Health, 18(2), 179–195.Google Scholar
For a study using thematic analysis to explore male accounts of infertility on a forum, see Malik, S. H. and Coulson, N. S. (2008). The male experience of infertility: A thematic analysis of an online infertility support group bulletin board. Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology, 26(1), 18–30.Google Scholar
For a study that exemplifies a discursive psychology perspective applied to forum data, see Horne, J. and Wiggins, S. (2009). Doing being ‘on the edge’: Managing the dilemma of being authentically suicidal in an online forum. Sociology of Health & Illness, 31(2), 170–184.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
For a study combining elements of conversation analysis with ‘membership categorisation analysis’, see Giles, D. C. and Newbold, J. (2013). ‘Is this normal?’ The role of category predicates in constructing mental illness online. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 18(4), 476–490.Google Scholar

References

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