Provides a critical and concise introduction to online research, its origins, developments, benefits and current debates.

First published Open Access under a Creative Commons license as What is Online Research?, this title is now also available as part of the Bloomsbury Research Methods series.

This book provides a concise and accessible introduction to online research, covering ethics, surveys, focus groups, ethnographies, experiments and the gathering and analysis of naturally occurring digital/big data. It also asks how researchers should use the digital environment to communicate their research and looks forward to the future of the field, asking what the next ten years hold. Online research is rarely well served by the direct translation of onsite methods onto the internet. Rather, researchers need to reflect, adapt and redesign research as they change the mode through which they conduct their research.

Featuring an updated glossary, two new chapters and comprehensive updates throughout, this new edition provides new and experienced researchers with the foundation they need to conduct online research projects.