MOTIVATION FOR A SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATION INTO THE DEVELOPMENT OF CYBERSPACE CULTURE

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CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

“Things should be made as simple as possible, but not any simpler »

(Albert Einstein)

Introduction

The project was contextualised in the previous chapter by providing background information on the social context of cyberspace culture and gaps within the existing literature to describe the Internet experience from a South African perspective. These questions pave the way for a thorough scientific investigation into:

• The development of the cyberspace culture
• A description of the typical Generation X member living in South Africa
• Ethical research methods that can be applied in the South African context to investigate thought processes and interaction patterns of the Generation Xer.

The Internet is not only a piece of technology but also an engine of social change, one that has an influence on work habits, education systems, the global economy, politics and ultimately, research processes. In order to understand the Internet as communication environment it has to be seen as part of people’s socio-cultural networks that maintain their communities. Cyber Psychology enables one to think and theorise about how people make connections between cyberspace and the rest of their off-line lives. This process implies the following:

• The Internet can be experienced in different ways by individuals
• The Internet is both social and cognitive space
• The Internet experience is always situated in a specific context, even if one is alone in front of one’s computer chatting to others in a chat-room
• Interaction, more specifically chat-room interaction can only be fully understood by means of an analysis of the social context in which it takes place.

During this study chat-room behaviour will be analysed by applying qualitative content analysis techniques in order to focus on simple and complex language constructions that can be used to analyse the social context of chat-room interaction. Words are units with individual meanings, but when these are placed in relationship with each other, a specific context is created for unique reasoning patterns. Choices of words and themes reveal a lot about personality, self-image, world views, value systems and use of psychological defence mechanisms that individuals resort to on a daily basis. By means of qualitative content analysis the linguistic context as well as the broader shared meaning context arise.
The content of chat-room protocols will be analysed on different levels namely:

• Figure interpretation since many individuals use figures to describe their pseudopersonalities.
• Word interpretation will be needed for the analyses of the unique .co.za-dictionary that developed during chat-room interaction.
• Sentence analysis is important since many of the online conversations is short and to the point.
• Paragraph analysis in order to identify overall trends and patterns that characterise the chat-room interaction on a broader level.

Units of analysis for Internet research

In order to analyse social interaction within this changing context, the three-level (domain) model of social context was used (Mantovani in Guiseppi & Galimberti 2001: 22). The basis of this model is the relationship between cultural norms and values and use of computer technology during human interaction. The microlevel looks at interaction between individuals via an artefact for example a computer. The mesolevel focuses on everyday life situations and the macrolevel describes the social context of cyberspace culture. Relationships between levels can be studied in reciprocate directions starting from either the micro- or macrolevel. On-line individual interaction influence everyday situations leading to the development of cyberspace culture on a macrolevel. In the opposite direction, cyberspace culture supplies tools such as ‘netiquette’ needed to correctly interpret on-line situations and behaviour. Visually the model can be depicted as follows:
Carl Roger’s ideas and thoughts around creativity will be used to describe behaviour, goals and personal motivations of an individual to interact and form relationships with other individuals via the Internet. This level forms the basis or starting point of the development of cyberspace culture.
Mesolevel: Situation
Chat-room groups develop within a borderless world of cyberspace with unique constraints and potentialities different from traditional face-to-face encounters. Specific roles, functions and behaviour such as pseudopersonality development will be described that characterise this unique electronic situation people encounter on a daily basis.
Macrolevel: Context
The focus of on-line interaction is on a unique culture of cyberspace with specific social rules to guide interaction in chat-rooms on the situational level. The Symbolic Action Theory within the framework of Cultural Psychology will be applied to discuss this top-down developmental process. Cyberspace culture influences other institutions within broader society, such as the globalisation of economies and social relationships across continents. This project will emphasise the continuing mediating process between technological innovation and human social change, implying that the cyberspace culture is indeed both a social as well as a cognitive concept, making it an unstable, ever changing prerequisite for communication in the 21^st century.
In addition to the three-level domain model, the CEMDA (Complimentary Explorative Multilevel Data Analysis) method will be applied to study these units and the relationships between them. The CEMDA method provides a structured framework to analyse Generation Xers development of cyberspace culture from a psychological perspective. CEMDA provides researchers with the potential to conduct parallel and interconnected research in the same domain (Guiseppe & Galimberti 2001).
The main characteristics of the CEMDA model can be summarised as follows:

• The main aim is to integrate research results in a general framework to understand the phenomenon under question for example cyberspace culture.
• There is a different focus for each level, allowing the researcher to explore the relationship between levels of the Internet experience.
• Researchers have the flexibility to combine various quantitative and qualitative methods in order to compliment the weaknesses imbedded in each. Quantitative methods are applied to extract statistically valid and reliable patterns whilst qualitative methods capture the essence of the phenomena for example the personal experience of chat-room interaction.

Stages in Complimentary Explorative Multilevel Data Analysis

Guiseppe and Galimberti (2001: 33) identified the following stages to be used when structuring a research project:

• Stage 1:Determine the scope of the research
• Stage 2:Define the different levels
• Stage 3:Define a start level
• Stage 4:Identification of links between the start- and other levels

Stage 1:  Determine the scope of the research
The study aims to provide a description of a particular group of people, conveniently designated as ‘Generation Xers, who are developing a new ‘cyberspace culture’ through interacting in cyberspace chat-rooms, by means of a twofold process of firstly developing cyberspace or ‘pseudopersonalities’ that are different from their individual ‘normal’ personalities, and secondly by sharing unique values, opinions and attitudes.
Stage 2:  Define the different levels
The three-level model in figure 3.1 was used to determine the following levels:

• Interaction
• Situation

Stage 3:  Define a start level
The process starts at the microlevel where individuals use the Internet during interaction with others.
Stage 4:  Link the start level with the other levels
For the purpose of this project the development process was described from bottom to top, that is from individual interactions via the Internet on a daily basis, that eventually develops into cyberspace culture with an unique value system.

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1 Introduction.
1.2 Aim of the study.
1.3 Research objectives .
1.4 Key concepts
1.5 Overview of the envisaged research process
CHAPTER 2: MOTIVATION FOR A SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATION INTO THE DEVELOPMENT OF CYBERSPACE CULTURE
2.1 Introduction.
2.2 Web spaces as mediators between on- and off-line living
2.3 Motivations for a scientific investigation
2.4 Concluding summary
CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Units of analysis for Internet research
3.3 Stages in Complimentary Explorative Multilevel Data Analysis
3.4 Concluding summary
CHAPTER 4: THE INTERNET – A PRODUCT OF THE CREATIVE PROCESS DESCRIBED BY CARL ROGERS 
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Social need for creativity
4.3 The creative process
4.4 Motivation for creativity
4.5 The social value of creativity
4.6 Inner conditions of constructive creativity.
4.7 External conditions fostering constructive creativity
4.8 Concluding summary
CHAPTER 5: THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE PSEUDOPERSONALITY.
5.1 Introduction
5.2 The pseudopersonality in the off-line world.
5.3 On-line pseudopersonalities
5.4 Virtual interaction characteristics that promote pseudopersonality development
5.5 The process of pseudopersonality development
5.6 Theoretical descriptions of the development process
5.7 The missing link – The journey from the ‘cyber-me’ towards the ‘real-me’
5.8 Concluding summary
CHAPTER 6: COMPUTER-MEDIATED COMMUNICATION (CMC) – A THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE
6.1 Introduction.
6.2 Cognitive processes in cyberspace
6.3 Theoretical descriptions of the CMC process
6.4 Assessment of CMC theoretical models
6.5 Concluding summary
CHAPTER 7: THE DEVELOPMENT OF CYBERSPACE CULTURE – A CULTURAL PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE
7.1 Introduction
7.2 Group dynamics in cyberspace
7.3 Virtual communities
7.4 Development of cyberspace culture
7.5 The psychology behind values
7.6 Concluding summary
CHAPTER 8: INTERNET-USER POPULATION
8.1 Introduction
8.2 Quantitative data sources
8.3 Internet-user population figures
8.4 Concluding summary..
CHAPTER 9: QUALITATIVE RESULTS
9.1 Introduction
9.2 Pilot phase
9.3 Levels of content analysis
9.4 Sample realisation
9.5 Qualitative results.
9.6 Concluding summary.
CHAPTER 10: DISCUSSION OF RESULTS: FROM VIRTUAL COMMUNITIES TO CYBERSPACE CULTURE
10.1 Introduction
10.2 Generation X
10.3 Values in cyberspace culture
10.4 Virtual communities
10.5 Symbolic Action Theory principles
10.6 Cyberspace culture and its influence on off-line living
10.7 Concluding summary
CHAPTER 11: THE CHAT-ROOM AS A RESEARCH TOOL 
11.1 Introduction
11.2 Process and procedures during on-line focus groups
11.3 Examples of on-line focus groups
11.4 Advantages of on-line focus groups
11.5 Disadvantages of on-line focus groups
11.6 ESOMAR guideline for conducting Internet research
11.7 On-line focus groups in South Africa
11.8 Concluding
summary
CHAPTER 12: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
12.1 Introduction
12.2 Military-civilian IT interface
12.3 Unique featuresof the research process
12.4 Main research findings
12.5 Enforced digressions
12.6 Limitations of the survey
12.7 Views on future research possibilities
12.8 The Internet chat-room as research tool
12.9 Concluding
summary
REFERENCES 
INTERNET REFERENCES
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