Does the Internet facilitate this due to the nature of the medium?

Research questions are what underlie an argument: what is it you are trying to discover with this research? There can be primary and secondary research questions. They can be framed in theoretical terms. You have encountered plenty of suggested examples and some of you have come up with your own. (Also please see the readings/slides about other studies that list research questions and methodologies).
• Interview questions are about finding out what people do with media, how they relate at a visceral level, how they describe their experiences and reactions in their own words.
– Interview questions should not be theoretical, abstract or about asking for reasoned responses and arguments;
– They should not be about presenting an idea and having interviewees back it up (save the theory for the analysis section!);
– As an interviewer you should to use common expressions, translate what you want to know (theory, vocabulary) into everyday ways we talk about media and communicative experiences
– Examples of good interview questions
o Why do you like to use online chat?
o What is your alias? Do you have more than one?
• Follow up questions that may flow on from this may include:
– Why do you choose to use different ones, and how do you decide?
– Do you find you get different responses when you use different ones?
– Do you act differently when you use different aliases? How/Why?
– Do you think of yourself in a different way when you are online?
– Describe an experience you have had online that was particularly: a) enjoyable b) surprising c) embarrassing/uncomfortable
– Examples of BAD interview questions (you should NOT use questions like these because these are far too theoretical and read more like research questions. Questions like these are more likely to intimidate your interviewee and make them give basic one word answers rather than the ‘slice of life you are looking for in a qualitative study)
o What sort of subject positions do you take up when you go online?
o Would you say that you are constructing your identity in multiple ways when you are experiencing virtual worlds? Does the Internet facilitate this due to the nature of the medium? again by specifically tying it to your research question. A well-written paragraph will suffice.