1 June 2006

The Internet is proving to be a vital research tool, according to academics at the University of Leicester.

Clare Madge and Henrietta O'Connor originally decided to use the web as part of a social science project on parenting and the Internet. However, the overwhelming success of conducting research over the web convinced them to develop an online resource for other academics.

The new project has secured funding from the Economic and Social Research Council and hopes to offer advice and guidance on the process of conducting surveys, interviews and focus groups via the net.

Ms O'Connor, a lecturer at the University of Leicester, explained: "In 1998 I began working with Clare Madge on a research project which aimed to examine how, why and in what ways new parents were using parenting websites."

She added: "The project showed how the Internet could be used to carry out social science research and generated a number of publications, but it also generated a lot of requests for Clare and myself to talk about online research."

© Adfero Ltd

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