Please help, I want your views on this

[clyro]

Hello everyone

I'm currently considering doing a dissertation project for my master's degree on the broad topic of alternative onine information sources as a threat to information control by elites and dominant ideologies. I'd like to get some idea of what people on this forum think on the matter.

There are 7 questions which will take maybe 10 minutes of your time. It is 100% anonymous and no identifying questions are asked. Although when you start it asks you for your email address, you can put 'asdiudhadshakj' and it will still work fine.

This is the link:
http://www.thesistools.com/?qid=9616&ln=eng

Too much research on this matter is on a macro scale. What I want to know is how *the people* perceive these issues. I really hope you can take 10 mins of your time for this. I'd be extremely grateful if you can help me here.

If you have any questions whatsoever, please feel free to ask.

Many thanks & best wishes

[ScreamingMeemie]

1. Done.

good luck.

[clyro]

4. Thanks Mrs Grumpy!

[H2O Man]

2. Were you to

list the 7 questions here, I'd answer them.

[clyro]

3. thanks H2O Man!

I just thought maybe people wouldn't want to share everything online, but if you're happy with it feel free! I like lots of text, but anything you can give is great :)

Gender
Age
Country of residence

1. Please could you briefly outline the things, on a political level, that concern you most at the moment?

2. Please tell me when & how you first came to develop an interest in political issues. E.g. was it a particular event? A conversation with someone? Maybe something you read? How did you feel at this time? Do you feel the same way now?

3. Do you frequently have political debates with people on a face-to-face basis? Do you find that people tend to swing towards your point of view, or not? If you can remember, please give an example of a recent face-to-face political debate you had and how it turned out.

4. What is your opinion on mainstream media? Are they biased? If you think so, in what way do you think they are biased? Are there any reasons you can give for believing this to be the case? Do you think online sources present a positive alternative? Why or why not?

5. How much time per week would you say you spend online reading news / political articles / posting articles / opinions on online discussion forums? Please give details (no need for specific websites unless you want to)

6. Do you often go to protests / demonstrations? Why or why not? Have you joined any political / campaigning / charity organisations? If so, without giving specific details, what kind of activities are involved? Have you done any other activities (e.g. leafleting, public speaking, or anything else)?

7. Could you tell me whether you feel hopeful / pessimistic about the future? If there is hope, what do you think can or needs to be done? If you do not believe there is hope, what are your reasons for thinking this way?

[H2O Man]

19. Here goes:

Male
47 (for a couple more months)
USA

{1} War in Iraq; violence in USA; environment; poverty

{2} My earliest memories include my family discussing politics at evening meal time. Also, at "family reunions."

{3} I am generally a hermit. A friend came over Saturday; he has a background in Afghan-Pakistani affairs dating back to the '50s, and we discussed and debated US policy in that area of the world.

{4} The corporate media reports the news in the exact same manner as McDonald's serves what they describe as hamburgers. The differences between Fox, MSNBC, and CNN are the same as the differences between McDonald's and Burger King. The internet is offering progress people an opportunity that is similar to the "hedge schools" of the Old Sod, when the English outlawed education for the Irish.

{5} It varies. I do not have an accurate answer.

{6} I do attend some rallies and other public events, though due to physical disability (2001) I am not able to as frequently as I did. I have been involved in grass roots activism for decades, and maintain connections with several organizations, including the SPLC, environmental & Native American groups, and social justice organizations. I have been involved, over the years, in political campaigns from local to state and national levels.

{7} I am 100% confident in the future. Why? Because I am 100% convinced in the present. What needs to happen? People need to change on an individual level.

[ScreamingMeemie]

8. H2OMan, it's nothing subversive. The site is a commonly used

site by universities for students needing research by way of polling the public.

[H2O Man]

12. If college students

are not being subversive, I am not inclined to go out of my way to help them. (grin) My son has forced me to pledge not to open any link provided by a stranger.

[ScreamingMeemie]

16. I've gone to this link several times to participate and I have never

had a virus on my computer ever, if that helps. ;) It's kind of a cool little survey. :)

[H2O Man]

20. If you ever

had to deal with my son, you would appreciate my hesitation.

[AuntiBush]

36. A Wise Man...

H20 MAN is a wise man. I am not so inclined to open any links either, these days. Reminds me of my Walkingsticks.

[ScreamingMeemie]

44. I am also a very wise woman who has visited this site before and therefore

had no problem doing so again, and wished to share my virus free computer existance. ;)

[AuntiBush]

55. I did to...

:) :hi: after thinking about it.

[hippiechick]

5. done

Good luck ! O8)

[clyro]

7. thanks hippiechick!

what a lovely bunch you all are :)

[babylonsister]

6. clyro, I just filled this out for you. Good luck w/your dissertation! nt

[brainshrub]

9. Kicked and nominated.

Hey DU, let's help this guy out.

Please kick and nominate this thread.

[hootinholler]

10. Done. Might be interesting to ask the same questions on a right wing site

I'd use a seperate url so they two groups could be seperated. It could be interesting comparing the differences.

-Hoot

[clyro]

13. done

unfortunately their responses tend to be based on 'the jews' rather too much... which is fine, I want people's opinions and all, but well, meh...

[clyro]

11. woohoo!!

Big blocks of text coming my way! thanks so much!

Right, I'm off to a lecture for the next 2 hours now, but be assured that I'll be sending thought-vibes of thanks to everyone who responds during that time :) :)

[DemExpat]

14. Done.

Best of luck with this.

:hi:

DemEx

[SpecialK]

15. Done n/t

[Minnesota Libra]

17. done nt

[rucky]

18. done. nt

[Catchawave]

21. Done !

Welcome to DU Clyro :hi: and good luck with your project.

[FloridaPat]

22. Done. My first involvement with politics was when JFK was elected.

Ah, the good old days filled with hope.

[Greyhound]

23. There ya go. n/t

[brainshrub]

24. Done. Good luck.

[TreasonousBastard]

25. Done. n/rt

[Pharaoh]

26. done

K&R

[mzteris]

27. Ok -

I wrote several books for ya. Don't know if any of it is what you need/want, but thanks for letting me vent!

:kick:

[clyro]

28. holy crap!!

I've got 25,000 words already!!

If I visit the US soon, I'll be sure to give each and every one of you a damn good shagging*!

Thanks so much for your effort & time!


* If you prefer, this can be replaced with a hug, cheer or maybe some chocolates :)

[MadMaddie]

29. Done...

[ripple]

30. Done- interesting survey

I hope you share some of your findings here. Good luck on your research!

[clyro]

32. thanks ripple!

What I'm doing here is trying to inform my future research, rather than producing any 'findings' as such here. On a methodological level I simply will not be able to say anything like "76% of people who spend 12+ hours a week on internet forums tend to have a major distrust of mainstream media." While the conclusion might be plausible, the fact that I don't have, by any stretch of the imagination, a representative sample, I simply cannot claim to generalise any results. The basic rule of all surveys is that you can only infer to a general population if you have a random (probability) sample. And I could never claim in a million years that my strategy of spamming forums with desperate pleas for help will qualify as one...

So basically I'm doing a 'grounded theory' approach to all this. I'm going to spend a couple of weeks doing a content analysis of all the data, categorising, indexing & coding etc., seeing what themes, ideas & relationships emerge, and see if any theory can be built out of it, and this should raise the question of what direction future research should go. So it's an inductive strategy of using data to inform theory (rather than the standard theory --> hypothesis --> test with data method).

Of course, if I find something truly awesome I will want the whole world to know :)

[JeffR]

31. Done

Good luck, clyro, and welcome to DU!
:toast:

[Dorian Gray]

33. Done.

Good luck. And let us know what you found out about people! :)

[yellowdogmi]

34. done

Good Luck.

[zeemike]

35. Done

[MinneapolisMatt]

37. K&R and done!

Good luck with your dissertation!

-Matt

[clyro]

38. test

[mikita]

39. Done

I hope this helps you.

[pacalo]

40. Gladly done.

:hi:

[AndyA]

41. Done - great questions!

I hope the answers you get are helpful.

[roguevalley]

42. done, honey. good luck.

[4_TN_TITANS]

43. Done...

Hope it helps.

[TheUnspeakable]

45. done-good luck!

[Karenina]

46. ...

[mdmc]

47. i'll do it

:kick:

[mdmc]

49. done

:kick:

[bigwillq]

48. Done

Welcome to DU! :hi:

[lumberingbear]

50. Done.

Very thoughtful questions.

[Czolgosz]

51. d

[serryjw]

52. Done..Hope it helps

n/t

[SCRUBDASHRUB]

53. Done; hope I helped!?

[EstimatedProphet]

54. Done

[RebelOne]

56. Done. Glad to help.