Fun Stuff > CHATTER
Internet friends and the real world
Barmymoo:
I'm starting a research project in Sociology and currently bouncing some ideas around for what topic I'll look at.
One of the things I was thinking of looking into was whether age affects internet usage. Not in the obvious way of younger people using it more, or older people using it for shopping, but the actual nature of friendships and relationships formed or sustained through the internet. I figured that you guys would be a good bunch of people to test the waters with, since this forum represents a fairly diverse bunch of internet users.
My current vague hypothesis is that young people (a vague age group would be people between 16 and 30ish, since I can't interview anyone under 16) are more likely to make new friends via the internet, whilst older generations use it more to sustain existing, real life friendships. Contradicting that is the rise in internet dating, but I don't have to be right with my hypothesis, I just need to research it well.
Does anyone have any input? Anything that would either back up, contradict or totally redirect my theory? I'm undecided on whether this will be a good thing to research, so I basically need an idea of what kind of things I could look at and what I might have missed.
Verergoca:
This is what i read there
--- Quote ---Dear internet, please do my homework for me.
--- End quote ---
Barmymoo:
Oddly enough, I can't do a research project without asking people stuff.
Verergoca:
Well, you cant deny you got my opinion there in a nutshell :p
Also, what i kinda ment was, that this has been done, redone and overdone a thousand times before, ever since people who shun the sun wanted to get sociology degrees and all that. (and yes, i am not subtle, i am well aware of that fact.)
You could actually probably do this kind of assignment by asking certain databases (im looking at you, Springerlink, ScieneDirect and ScientificCommons) the correct questions, and then fudging a bit with your data.
Not that im advocating plagiarism, but eh...
I need sleep
Sox:
--- Quote from: Barmymoo on 03 Jun 2008, 13:38 ---Oddly enough, I can't do a research project without asking people stuff.
--- End quote ---
You also said you can't interview anybody over 16, which implies the research will be very one-sided.
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