Since 1999 blogs have become a significant feature of online culture. They have been heralded as the new guardians of democracy, a revolutionary form of bottom-up news production and a new way of constructing self and doing community in late-modern times. In this article I highlight the significance of the 'blogosphere' as a new addition to the qualitative researcher's toolkit and some of the practical, theoretical and methodological issues that arise from this. Some of the key ethical issues involved in blog data collection are also considered. The research context is a project on everyday understandings and experiences of morality.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Keywords:	blogs, computer-mediated communication, online research, online research ethics, qualitative research, social research, weblogs
Research Division:	Human Society
Research Group:	Sociology
Research Field:	Sociological methodology and research methods
Objective Division:	Expanding Knowledge
Objective Group:	Expanding knowledge
Objective Field:	Expanding knowledge in language, communication and culture
UTAS Author:	Hookway, N (Dr Nicholas Hookway)
ID Code:	53204
Year Published:	2008
Web of Science® Times Cited:	364
Deposited By:	Sociology and Social Work
Deposited On:	2008-11-11
Last Modified:	2015-04-21
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