OII | OeSS: The Oxford e-Social Science Project

Project Contents

Overview
Key Information
Publications
Participants
Videos
Project Press Coverage

Overview

Advances in information and communication technology are transforming the way scholarly research is conducted across all disciplines. The use of increasingly powerful and versatile computer-based and networked systems promises to change research activity as profoundly as the mobile phone, the Internet, and email have changed everyday life. The Oxford e-Social Science (OeSS) research project studies the use and impacts of these new approaches—called ‘e-research’ — and their ethical, legal, and institutional implications.

Scientific collaboration is increasingly coming to be seen as critically dependent upon effective access to shared digital research data and the advanced information tools that enable data storage, search, retrieval, visualization, and higher level analysis. The increasing role that advanced ICTs play in the practice of scientific research promises the potential to transform the way facts about the physical and social world are acquired, shared, analyzed, and translated into useful knowledge.

Building large, collaborative systems is not just a technical challenge: by looking at e-Research from a social shaping perspective, we are able to understand how researchers shape the technologies they use, and how they in turn have their behaviour shaped by the technologies and by social, ethical, legal and organizational forces.

By understanding how e-Research projects negotiate various constraints, we hope that our work can help researchers avoid the problems others have faced as they build these scientific collaborations.

Key Information

Funders:

Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)

Oxford e-Research Centre (OeRC)

Oxford University Computing Laboratory (OUCL)

Project dates:
October 2005 - March 2012

Contact:
OII Enquiries

All Publications

Antonijević, S. (2012) Epistemic Encounters: Interdisciplinary collaboration in developing VREs. Presented at the OeSS Symposium “Social Science and Digital Research: Interdisciplinary Insights”, Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, 12 March 2012.
Bar-Ilan, J., Shema, H. and Thelwall, M. (2012) Discussing research with the public in the blogosphere. Presented at the OeSS Symposium “Social Science and Digital Research: Interdisciplinary Insights”, Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, 12 March 2012.
Boase, J. and Kobayashi, T. (2012) Theoretical Implications of Digital Trace Data: Insight From the Development of a Mobile Smartphone Application. Presented at the OeSS Symposium “Social Science and Digital Research: Interdisciplinary Insights”, Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, 12 March 2012.
Borgman, C. (2012) Reproducibility: Gold or Fool’s Gold in Digital Social Research?. Presented at the OeSS Symposium “Social Science and Digital Research: Interdisciplinary Insights”, Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, 12 March 2012.
Duin, D., King, D. and van den Besselaar, P. (2012) ‘Wish you were here before!’ Who gains from collaboration between computer science and social research?. Presented at the OeSS Symposium “Social Science and Digital Research: Interdisciplinary Insights”, Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, 12 March 2012.
Mager, A. (2012) The performative character of digital methods. Presented at the OeSS Symposium “Social Science and Digital Research: Interdisciplinary Insights”, Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, 12 March 2012.
Plantin, J.-C. (2012) From One Map to the Other: the Risky, yet Heuristic, Parallel between Web Graph and Digital Cartography. Presented at the OeSS Symposium “Social Science and Digital Research: Interdisciplinary Insights”, Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, 12 March 2012.
Procter, R. (2012) New forms of scholarly communications: opportunities and challenges. Presented at the OeSS Symposium “Social Science and Digital Research: Interdisciplinary Insights”, Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, 12 March 2012.
Sugimoto, C. and Cronin, B. (2012) Toward a New Model of Scholarly Communication. Presented at the OeSS Symposium “Social Science and Digital Research: Interdisciplinary Insights”, Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, 12 March 2012.
Thelwall, M. (2012) Webometrics: The Evolution of a Digital Social Science Research Field. Presented at the OeSS Symposium “Social Science and Digital Research: Interdisciplinary Insights”, Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, 12 March 2012.
Carusi, A. (2011) Computational Biology and the Limits of Shared Vision. Perspectives on Science 19 (3) 300-336.
Carusi, A. (forthcoming) Trust in the virtual / physical interworld. In: C.Ess, and M.Thorseth (eds) Trust and Virtual Worlds: Contemporary Perspectives. Peter Lang.
Carusi, A. and Jirotka, M. (2010) Reshaping Research Collaboration: the case of Virtual Research Environments. In: W.H.Dutton and P.W.Jeffreys (eds) World Wide Research: Reconfiguring Access to Information, Expertise and Experience in the Sciences and Humanities. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Carusi, A. and Reimer, T. (2010) Virtual research environment collaborative landscape study. JISC.
Carusi, A., G. Novakovic and T. Webmoor (2010) Are Digital Picturings Representations? Electronic Visualisation and the Arts (EVA 2010) 9: 174-184.
de la Flor, G., Jirotka, M. Luff, P., Pybus, J. and Kirkham, R. (2010) Transforming scholarly practice: embedding technological interventions to support the collaborative analysis of ancient texts. Journal of Computer Supported Cooperative Work 19 (3/4) 309-334.
de la Flor, G., Luff, P., Jirotka, M., Pybus, J., Kirkham, R. and Carusi, A. (2010)The Case of the Disappearing Ox: Seeing Through Digital Images to an Analysis of Ancient Texts. Proceedings of the 28th ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI. pp. 473-482.
de la Flor, G., Ojaghi, M., Lamata Martínez, I., Jirotka, M., Williams, M.S. and Blakeborough, A. (2010) Reconfiguring practice: the interdependence of experimental procedure and computing infrastructure in distributed earthquake engineering. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A 368: 4073-4088.
Dutton, W.H. and Jeffreys, P. (eds) (2010) World Wide Research: Reshaping the Sciences and Humanities. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
Shanks, M. and Webmoor, T. (2010) A Political Economy of Visual Media in Archaeology. In: S.Bonde and S.Houston (eds) Re-presenting the Past: archaeology through image and text. Providence, RI: Brown University Press, pp. 87-110.
Carusi, A. (2009) Implicit Trust in the Space of Reasons and Implications for Technology Design: A Response to Justine Pila. Journal of Social Epistemology 23 (1) 25-43.
Carusi, A. (2009) Philosophy engines: Technology and Reading/ Writing/ Thinking Philosophy. Discourse 8 (3).
Carusi, A. and Jirotka, M. (2009) From data archive to ethical labyrinth. Qualitative Research 9 (3) 285-298.
Carusi, A., Rodriguez, B., Wakefield, J., et al. (2009) Forum for Scientific Method in Biology: Transcript. Oxford e-Research Centre, University of Oxford.
den Besten, M. and David, P.A. (2009) Data and Information Access in e-Research: Results from a 2008 Survey among UK e-Science Project Participants. Oxford Internet Institute Research Report No. 18, University of Oxford.
den Besten, M., Thomas, A.J. and Schroeder, R. (2009) Life Science Research and Drug Discovery at the Turn of the 21st Century: The Experience of SwissBioGrid. Discovery and Collaboration 4 (5).
Fry, J., Schroeder, R. and den Besten, M. (2009) Open science in e-science: contingency or policy? Journal of Documentation 65 (1) 6-32.
Meyer, E.T. (2009) Moving from Small Science to Big Science: Social and Organizational Impediments to Large Scale Data Sharing. In: N.Jankowski (Ed.) e-Research: Transformation in Scholarly Practice. Routledge Advances in Research Methods. New York, NY: Routledge, pp. 147-159.
Caldas, A., Schroeder, R., Mesch, G. and Dutton, W.H. (2008) Patterns of Information Search and Access on the World Wide Web: Democratizing Expertise or Creating New Hierarchies? Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 13 (4) 769-793.
Carusi (2008) Data as Representation: Beyond Anonymity in e-Research Ethics. International Journal of Internet Research Ethics 1 (1) 37-65.
Carusi, A. (2008) Scientific visualisations and aesthetic grounds for trust. Ethics and Information Technology 4: 243-254.
Carusi, A. and Jirotka, M. (2008) Parameters and visions: dataflows in computational and mathematical biology. eResearch08 Conference, University of Oxford, 11-13 September 2008.
D’Agostino, Hinds, Jirotka, M., Meyer, E.M., Piper, T., Rahman, and Vaver (2008)On the Importance of Intellectual Property Rights for e-Science and the Integrated Health Record. Health Informatics Journal 14 (2) 95-111.
Darch, P., Carusi, A. and Jirotka, M. (2008) A climate of trust: perceptions of legitimate authority in a volunteer computing project. eResearch08 Conference, University of Oxford, 11-13 September 2008.
de la Flor, G. and Meyer, E. (2008) Talking ’bout a revolution: Framing e-Research as a computerization movement. eResearch08 Conference, University of Oxford, 11-13 September 2008.
den Besten, M. and David, P.A. (2008) Mapping e-Science’s Path in the Collaboration Space: An Ontological Approach to Monitoring Infrastructure Development. 4th International Conference on e-Social Science, Manchester, UK, 18-19 June 2008.
Dutton, W. and Eynon, R. (2008) The tools of networked individuals: parallel patterns and strategies for governmental and research institutions. eResearch08 Conference, University of Oxford, 11-13 September 2008.
Dutton, W.H. (2008) The Wisdom of Collaborative Network Organizations: Capturing the Value of Networked Individuals. Prometheus 26 (3) 211-230.
Dutton, W.H. and Meyer, E.T. (2008) e-Social Science as an Experience Technology: Distance From, and Attitudes Toward, e-Research [Presentation Slides]. 4th International Conference on e-Social Science, Manchester, UK, 18-19 June 2008.
Dutton, W.H. and Meyer, E.T. (2008) e-Social Science as an Experience Technology: Distance From, and Attitudes Toward, e-Research. 4th International Conference on e-Social Science, Manchester, UK, 18-19 June 2008.
Dutton, W.H. and Meyer, E.T. (2008) eSocial Science: Awareness, Support and Practice. Presentation to Management Board of the UK National Centre for e-Social Science (NCeSS), 30 June 2008.
Eynon, R., Fry, J. and Schroeder, R. (2008) The Ethics of Internet Research. ESRC Methods Festival, St Catherine’s College, University of Oxford, 30 June-3 July 2008.
Eynon, R., Fry, J. and Schroeder, R. (2008) The Ethics of Internet Research. In: N.G.Fielding, R.M.Lee and G.Blank (eds) The SAGE Handbook of Online Research Methods. London: Sage, pp. 23-41.
Meyer, E.T. and Schroeder, R. (2008) The World Wide Web of Research and Access to Knowledge. 4th International Conference on e-Social Science, Manchester, UK, 18-19 June 2008.
Meyer, E.T., Schroeder, R. and Dutton, W.H. (2008) The Role of e-Infrastructures in the Transformation of Research Practices and Outcomes. iConference 2008, UCLA, Los Angeles, LA, 28 February-1 March 2008.
Meyer, E.T., Schroeder, R. and Power, L. (2008) e-Research 2.0: Taking the Measure of Web 2.0 in e-Research. 4th International Conference on e-Social Science, Manchester, UK, 18-19 June 2008.
Rahman, M., Jirotka, M. and Dutton, W. (2008) Lost in Reality – The Case for Virtual Safe Settings. 4th International Conference on e-Social Science, Manchester, UK, 8-19 June 2008.
Schroeder, R. (2008) e-Sciences as research technologies: reconfiguring disciplines, globalizing knowledge. Social Science Information 47 (2) 131-157.
Schroeder, R. and Bailenson, J. (2008) Research Uses of Multi-user Virtual Environments. In: N.G.Fielding, R.M.Lee and G.Blank (eds) The SAGE Handbook of Online Research Methods. London: Sage, pp. 327-342.
Schroeder, R. and Den Besten, M. (2008) Literary sleuths online: e-Research collaboration on the Pynchon Wiki. Information, Communication & Society 11 (2) 167-187.
Ackland, R., Fry, J. and Schroeder, R. (2007) Scoping the Online Visibility of e-Research by Means of e-Research Tools. 3rd International Conference on e-Social Science, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 7-9 October 2007.
Axelsson, A.-S. and Schroeder, R. (2007) Making it Open and Keeping it Safe: e-Enabled Data Sharing in Sweden and Related Issues. 3rd International Conference on e-Social Science, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 7-9 October 2007.
Carusi, A. and Jirotka, M. (2007) From data archive to ethical labyrinth. 3rd International Conference on e-Social Science, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 7-9 October 2007.
Carusi, A., Parker, M. and Jirotka, M. (2007) Trust in Internet-enabled Science. Presented at the Society for the Social Studies of Sciences (4S) Annual Conference 2007, 11-13 October 2007, Montreal, Canada.
Daw, M., Procter, R., Lin, Y., Hewitt, T., Jie, W., Voss, A., Baird, K., Turner, A., Birkin, M., Miller, K., Dutton, W., Jirotka, M., Schroeder, R., de la Flor, G., Edwards, P., Allan, R., Yang, X. and Crouchley, R. (2007) Developing an e-Infrastructure for Social Science. 3rd International Conference on e-Social Science, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 7-9 October 2007.
de la Flor, G. (2007) Embedding e-Science Applications. 3rd International Conference on e-Social Science, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 7-9 October 2007.
de la Flor, G., Lloyd, S., Jirotka, M., and Warr, A. (2007) Designing software in support of workplace activities – embedding e-science applications. 3rd International Conference on e-Social Science, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 7-9 October 2007.
Dutton, W. and Schroeder, R. (2007) 21st Century Research: How e-Research Will Reconfigure Access to Information and Expertise. Presented at seminar series: Challenges of the 21st Century, James Martin 21st Century School, University of Oxford, 8 November 2007.
Dutton, W.H. (2007) Reconfiguring Access to Information and Expertise in the Social Sciences: The Social Shaping and Implications of Cyberinfrastructure. 3rd International Conference on e-Social Science, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 7-9 October 2007.
Fry, J. and Talja, S. (2007) The intellectual and social organization of academic fields and the shaping of digital resources. Journal of Information Science 33 (2) 115-133.
Jirotka, M. (2007) The Practical Accomplishment of Data Sharing. Presented at the Society for the Social Studies of Sciences (4S) Annual Conference 2007, 11-13 October 2007, Montreal, Canada.
Meyer, E. (2007) Moving from small science to big science: Social and organizational impediments to large scale data sharing. 3rd International Conference on e-Social Science, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 7-9 October 2007.
Meyer, E. (2007) Technological Change and the Form of Science Research Teams: Dealing with the Digitals. Prometheus 25 (4) 345-361.
Meyer, E. (2007) Tensions between established practice and changing technologies: Marine mammal scientists and digital photography. Society for the Social Studies of Sciences (4S) Annual Conference 2007, Montreal Canada, 11-13 October 2007.
Schroeder, R. (2007) Defending Technological Determinism – In Theory and in Practices. Society for the Social Studies of Sciences (4S) Annual Conference 2007, Montreal, Canada, 11-13 October 2007.
Schroeder, R. (2007) e-Research Infrastructures and Open Science: Towards a New System of Knowledge Production? Prometheus 25 (1) 1-17.
Schroeder, R. (2007) Rethinking Science, Technology, and Social Change. Stanford University Press.
Schroeder, R. and Fry, J. (2007) Social Science Approaches to e-Science: Framing an Agenda. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 12 (2).
Schroeder, R., den Besten, M. and Fry, J. (2007) Catching Up or Latecomer Advantage? Lessons from e-Research Strategies in Germany, in the UK and Beyond. German e-Science Conference (GeS), Baden-Baden, Germany, 2-4 May 2007.
Talja, S., Vakkari, P., Fry, J. and Wouters, P.F. (2007) Impact of research cultures on the use of digital library resources. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology 58 (11) 1674-1685.
Voss, A., Mascord, M., Arguello Casteleiro, M., Asgari-Targhi, M., Procter, R., Fraser, M., Jirotka, M., Halfpenny, P., Fergusson, D., Atkinson, M., Dunn, S., Blanke, T., Hughes, L. and Anderson, S. (2007) e-Infrastructure Development and Community Engagement. 3rd International Conference on e-Social Science, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 7-9 October 2007.
Carusi, A. (2006) Data as representation and its ethical implications. European Computing and Philosophy Conference, Trondheim, Norway, 22-24 June 2006.
Carusi, A. (2006) Multi-disciplinary research into new technologies: collaboration and breakdown. NCeSS 2nd International Conference on e-Social Science, Manchester, UK, 28-30 June 2006.
Carusi, A. (2006) The Ethical Implications of Data as Representation. European Computing and Philosophy Conference, Trondheim, Norway, 22-24 June 2006.
Carusi, A. and Jirotka, M. (2006) Building Virtual Research Environments and User Engagement. NCeSS Second International Conference on e-Social Science, Manchester, UK, 28-30 June 2006.
Carusi, A., Jirotka, M. and Parker, M. (2006) Trust and Ethics in e-Science: Agenda Setting Workshop Report. Trust and Ethics in e-Science: Agenda-Setting Workshop, St Cross College, University of Oxford, 11 September 2006.
David, P., den Besten, M. and Schroeder, R. (2006) How Open is e-Science?2nd IEEE International Conference on e-Science and Grid Computing, Amsterdam, Netherlands, 4-6 December 2006.
Dutton, W. (2006) Ethical, Legal and Institutional Challenges of e-Research. ESRC Research Methods Festival, St Catherine’s College, University of Oxford, 17-20 July 2006.
Dutton, W.H., Carusi, A. and Peltu, M. (2006) Fostering Multidisciplinary Engagement: Communication Challenges for Social Research on Emerging Digital Technologies. Prometheus 24 (2) 129-149.
Fry, J. (2006) Studying the scholarly web: how disciplinary culture shapes online representations. International Journal of Scientometrics, Informetrics and Bibliometrics 10 (1).
Fry, J. and Schroeder, R. (2006) Ethical Challenges in / of e-Social Science. Presented at 2006 ESRC Research Methods Festival, St Catherine’s College, Oxford, 17-20 July 2006.
Fry, J. and Schroeder, R. (2006) Social Science Approaches to e-Science: Mapping Disciplinary Approaches. Presented at the NCeSS 2nd International Conference on e-Social Science, 28-30 June 2006, Manchester Metropolitan University.
Fry, J. and Thelwall, M. (2006) Using Domain Analysis and Organisational Theory to Understand e-Science Sustainability. NCeSS 2nd International Conference on e-Social Science, Manchester, UK, 28-30 June 2006.
Geddes, J., Mackay, C., Lloyd, S., Simpson, A., Power, D., Russell, D., Jirotka, M., Katzarova, M., Rossor, M., Fox, N., Fletcher, J., Hill, D., McLeish, K., Chen, Y., Hajnal, J.V., Lawrie, S., Job, D., McIntosh, A., Wardlaw, J., Sandercock, P., Palmer, J., Perry, D., Procter, R., Ure, J., Hartswood, M., Slack, R., Voss, A., Ho, K., Bath, P., Clarke, W. and Watson, G. (2006) Designing for e-Health: recurring scenarios in developing grid-based medical imaging systems. Studies in Health Technology and Informatics 120: 336-347.
Parker, M. and Carusi, A. (2006) Ethics on the Internet. Presented at the 2006 ESRC Research Methods Festival, St Catherine’s College, Oxford, 17-20 July 2006.
Procter, R., Batty, M., Birkin, M., Crouchley, R., Dutton, W.H., Edwards, P., Fraser, M., Halfpenny, P., Lin, Y. and Rodden, T. (2006) The National Centre for e-Social Science. UK e-Science All Hands Meeting 2006, Nottingham, UK, 18-21 September 2006.
Schroeder, R. (2006) e-Sciences: Infrastructures that reshape the Global Contours of Knowledge. NCeSS Second International Conference on e-Social Science, Manchester, UK, 28-30 June 2006.
Schroeder, R. and Jankowski, N. (2006) Social Science Approaches to eScience Workshop Summary. NCeSS Second International Conference on e-Social Science, 28-30 June 2006, Manchester, UK.
Welsh, E., Jirotka, M. and Gavaghan, D. (2006) Post-genomic science: cross-disciplinary and large-scale collaborative research and its organizational and technological challenges for the scientific research process. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A 364 (1843) 1533-1549.
Carusi, A. (2005) Ethics in e-Science. Summary Report of Ethics in e-Science Workshop, Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, 12 December 2005.
David, P. (2005) Towards a cyberinfrastructure for enhanced scientific collaboration: providing its ‘soft’ foundations may be the hardest part. Oxford Internet Institute Research Report No. 2, University of Oxford.
David, P.A. and Uhlir, P.F. (2005) Creating the Information Commons for e-Science: Toward Institutional Policies and Guidelines for Action. CODATA Newsletter 91.
Woolgar, S. (2004) Social Shaping Perspectives on e-Science and e-Social Science: the case for research support. Report.
David, P. and Spence, M. (2003) Towards institutional infrastructures for e-Science: the scope of the challenge. Oxford Internet Institute Research Report No. 2, University of Oxford.
Ackland, R. and Antony (2007) Developing e-Research Tools for the Analysis of Large-Scale Web Crawl Data. Presented at the 3rd International Conference on e-Social Science, 7-9 October 2007, Ann Arbor, MI.
Ackland, R. and Shorish, J. (2007) Network Formation in the Political Blogosphere: An Application of Agent Based Simulation and e-Research Tools. Presented at the 3rd International Conference on e-Social Science, 7-9 October 2007, Ann Arbor, MI.

Participants

Professor William H. Dutton

Senior Fellow, Advisory Board Member

Project role: Node Director

Bill Dutton was the OII’s Founding Director, a Fellow of Balliol College and the first Professor of Internet Studies at Oxford University.

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Professor Paul Allan David

Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford

Professor Ralph Schroeder

Senior Research Fellow

Ralph Schroeder has interests in shared virtual environments and the sociology of science and technology. His current research is related to digital media and populism, climate change online, AI and social theory, and the internet in China and India.

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Dr Marina Jirotka

Former Research Associate

Marina Jirotka is Professor of Human Centred Computing, Computing Laboratory, University of Oxford.

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Dr Annamaria Carusi

Oxford e-Research Centre (OeRC)

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Dr Matthijs den Besten

Oxford e-Research Centre, University of Oxford

Professor Eric T. Meyer

Senior Fellow

Eric T. Meyer is a Senior Fellow of the Oxford Internet Institute. His research looks at the changing nature of knowledge creation in science, medicine, social science, arts, and humanities as technology is embedded in everyday practices.

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Professor Kathryn Eccles

Associate Professor, Senior Research Fellow

Kathryn Eccles has research interests in the impact of new technologies on Humanities scholarship, and the re-organisation of cultural heritage and higher education in the digital world.

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Professor Christopher Millard

Former

Christopher Millard has extensive experience of advising international businesses on information law. His current research focuses on international privacy regulation, information governance, and the impact of the Internet on privacy.

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Professor Michael Parker

Ethox Centre

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Dr Justine Pila

Oxford Intellectual Property Research Centre

Professor Tina Piper

McGill's Centre for Intellectual Property Policy

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Dr Michael Spence

Faculty of Law, University of Oxford

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Professor David Vaver

Oxford Intellectual Property Research Centre

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Videos

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Project Press Coverage

MySpace and your research: will red tape hit web data use?

Times Higher Education, 10 July 2008

'Bill Dutton said the new world of e-research offered all sorts of novel and inexpensive ways of exploring social behaviour, but it also created a whole set of new ethical issues.'

Read now