BIB_14: Thacker, C., & Dayton, D. (2008). Using Web 2.0 to conduct qualitative research: A conceptual model. Technical Communication, 55(4), 383-391.

This article focuses on research methods. Specifically, the authors propose ways to take advantage of the user-generated content of Web 2.0 to conduct qualitative content and textual analysis. The authors point out the benefits of using Web-based communication in qualitative research if the website enables them to "impose some uniformity of structure on and embed metadata in the textual information as it is collected," "facilitate timely interaction to clarify and elaborate the texts first presented by informants," "provide data exploration tools built into the primary data collection platform," and "enable teams of researchers to work closely together to collect and analyze information presented over time by many informants" (p. 384). These are criteria for researchers to use to choose appropriate websites to use. The authors then point out that Web 2.0 websites generally meet these criteria. Finally, the authors discuss some issues such as confidentiality, ethical and legal requirements and expansion and transfer of websites that encounter researchers when they use Web 2.0 websites to collect data.

This article offers a convincing argument of the benefits of using Web 2.0 in research, which can be used in the method section in my dissertation to justify the online-ethnographic method I will use to collect data. It also points out important issues I need to consider when use this method.