Psychological Research Online: Report of Board of Scientific Affairs' Advisory Group on the Conduct of Research on the Internet.

Abstract

As the Internet has changed communication, commerce, and the distribution of information, so too it is changing psychological research. Psychologists can observe new or rare phenomena online and can do research on traditional psychological topics more efficiently, enabling them to expand the scale and scope of their research. Yet these opportunities entail risk both to research quality and to human subjects. Internet research is inherently no more risky than traditional observational, survey, or experimental methods. Yet the risks and safeguards against them will differ from those characterizing traditional research and will themselves change over time. This article describes some benefits and challenges of conducting psychological research via the Internet and offers recommendations to both researchers and institutional review boards for dealing with them. ((c) 2004 APA, all rights reserved)

Single-Attribute Implicit Association Tests (SA-IAT) for the Assessment of Unipolar Constructs

“…Despite former preconceptions, evidence is accumulating that online studies can provide valid data for research on implicit associations (Nosek, Banaji, & Greenwald, 2002), personality (Gosling, Vazire, Srivastava, & John, 2004), and sexuality (Mustanski, 2001). The study was implemented in line with the guidelines on Internet research proposed by Michalak and Szabo (1998) and the recommendations given by Kraut, Olson, Banaji, Bruckman, Cohen, and Couper (2004). After basic demographic questions, the sociosexuality IAT was given, followed by, among other measures, the Sociosexuality Scale.…”

Long-Term Effects of an Internet-Based Treatment for Posttraumatic Stress

“…There is an ongoing controversy concerning the comparability of Internet samples and face-to-face samples. Naturally, online participants tend to be self-selected (Kraut et al, 2004). However, in their review, Gosling, Vazire, Srivastava, and John (2004) concluded that Internet users do not differ from nonusers SBEH 400165-2/6/2009--340026---SBEH own Style on markers of adjustment and depression.…”

Farmer views on calving difficulty consequences on dairy and beef farms

“…In conclusion, online surveys are very appealing for research and industry consultation because they achieve potential sample sizes larger than other methods, they are faster, more cost-effective and provide a high degree of automation of the experiment (Reips, 2002;Kraut et al, 2004). However, online surveying also has some limitations, including those discussed above as well as design methodological issues (Reips, 2002;Kraut et al, 2004), which researchers have to carefully consider when employing them.…”

“…However, online surveying also has some limitations, including those discussed above as well as design methodological issues (Reips, 2002;Kraut et al, 2004), which researchers have to carefully consider when employing them. One option for Farmer Institutions to overcome the online surveys limitations regarding representativeness and avoiding overwhelming farmers with too much e-mailing, would be to form a constant representative sample of the farmer population which would be periodically surveyed to monitor and research issues of industry interest.…”