For many scholars in the social sciences, listservs, bulletin boards, and other archives of online interaction offers a treasure trove of text that need only be downloaded into one of the various software packages to become fodder for analysis. However, despite the relative ease of data collection, several problems have emerged from this practice. Christine Hine notes that online ethnography challenges any desire to explore a fixed site of meaning. Rather, this environment challenges researchers to focus on "the tracing of complex connections" (n.p.). Even the human "subject" of research loses some measure of meaning in this environment. For example, Luciano Paccagnella proposes that online ethnography risks blurring the human subject and the virtual one, asking whether it is even useful to learn the "true" identity of SweetBabe, a regular participant in an IRC channel #netsex, who also happens to be a 30 year old secretary. Which "person," he asks, is more real in this context?

While the emphasis of this workshop concerns online tools useful to collect qualitative and quantitative data online, it is critical that we explore the ethical implications raised by these questions. Initially, we might agree on the assumption that individuals have some authorial right to his or her words. But the question becomes murkier when we consider the public dimension of (much) online interaction. Many researchers have claimed that posting to a listserv or bulletin board is comparable to shouting in a public forum; your words are freely available and subject to analysis. From this perspective, Fay Sudweeks and Sheizaf Rafaeli respond to claims that online data collection for research purposes requires consent of those who write the words:

Sudweeks and Rafaeli reached this conclusion through their coordination of Project H, an international and multidisciplinary consortium that developed a quantitative database of electronic discussions for various research projects. As this group evolved, members tackled three ethical questions:

Pick one of these questions that most interests you. In the space provided, jot down some ideas on how you might respond to your selected question. Please be prepared to share your initial thoughts with your colleagues.