Over the last few years Twitter feeds have become popular data sources for studying a wide range of social and cultural phenomena, from political activism and public opinion, to investor sentiment and stock market swings, to trends in popular culture and discourse. For this question, propose a research study that incorporates Twitter data as part of a mixed-methods design (i.e., one that uses a mix of quantitative and qualitative social science techniques, and/or critical/interpretive scholarship). Your research design must include:

• A well-formulated research question, problem or hypothesis for which Twitter feed data would be relevant or appropriate
• A brief review of essential literature that provides a background and rationale for the question you pose and your methodology
• A description of the specific data-gathering and -analysis procedures (including Twitter-related methods) that you will employ in the study to answer or address the research question
• A discussion of the strengths and limitations of the various elements of your mixed-methods design (that is, the different data sources, data gathering methods, and data analysis techniques, and their various qualities of reliabilty/validity, generalizability, etc.). Be sure to discuss the ways that the different techniques you choose for the study may “triangulate” with one another to offset or balance their various strengths and shortcomings.

Although concerns about the “explosion” or “glut” of information date back at least to H.G. Wells’s World Brain and Vannevar Bush’s As We May Think, the recent and dramatic acceleration in information generation and circulation is among the most significant consequences of digital technologies and the Internet. As noted in a recent special report in The Economist (2010), the so-called data deluge “makes it possible to do many things that previously could not be done...But [the data] are also creating a host of new problems.” The article suggests that these problems include privacy issues; information security; the retention of digital records; the implications of large-scale data processing or “super-crunching”; personal information as a property right; and the integrity of information.

Your task is to write a proposal for a research study on some aspect of the data deluge noted above. Articulate one or more research questions about your chosen aspect and design a study that will allow you to answer your question(s). Among its parts, your proposal should include the following: an explanation of the significance of the research question(s); a review of previous relevant literature; an articulation and justification of a research design appropriate for your research question(s); an explanation of your choice of evidence, including the collection and analysis of data; and a statement of the limitations of the design and of the study.

The current obsession with "apps" and "app stores" represents a particular moment in the evolution of information technology and capitalism. Another aspect of this particular moment is the concern with the management of vast arrays of data in many formats and across specialized fields. Focus on one of these two concerns and propose several research questions that can make sense of and deepen our understanding of this moment, its history, and its possible ramifications. Identify one research question from the several you propose and design a study that will enable the question to be answered. The proposal should include a demonstration of the significance of the question, a review of previous relevant literature, a justification of the choice of design, and explanation of the data collection and data analysis methods to be used, and a statement of the limitations of the design.

The ways in which information resources are presented and represented can have a range of different kinds of impact upon the users and consumers of those resources. The impact can be on how users/consumers understand the content of resources and the intent of resources’ authors, how they make connections between resources, how (and to what extent) they come to trust them, how they react emotionally to them, and how they act upon them—amongst other things.

Your task is to write a proposal for a research study that would contribute to our understanding of the impact on users (and/or consumers) of the ways in which information resources are presented (and/or represented). Articulate one or more research questions about your chosen aspect of this area of inquiry, and design a study that will allow you to answer your question(s). You may choose any approach (e.g., humanistic, scientific, social scientific) that you believe to be appropriate for your study. Among its parts, your proposal should include the following: a discussion of your epistemological and ontological assumptions; an explanation of the significance of the research question(s); a review of previous relevant literature; an articulation and justification of a research design appropriate for your research question(s); an explanation of the research methods to be used; and a statement of the limitations of the design and of the study.

Some of the distinctions traditionally drawn between media, communication, and computing technologies are becoming increasingly blurred, as we watch television on laptops, search and retrieve digital media from TV sets, surf the web on telephones, and read books on networked wireless devices. It seems that we produce, look for, organize, share, and consume information across a greater range of devices, platforms, systems, and environments than ever before.

A list of the questions that are raised by this proliferation of technological contexts for information-related activities might include the following: Is it still possible to construct a general taxonomy of information-related activities (i.e., one whose categories of activity are not specific to particular technologies)? Does the very concept of “information” remain useful as a way of thinking about our goals when we use these technologies? Is there scope for the design of a generic, cross-context strategy for evaluating the extent to which our information needs and desires are met when using these technologies?

Your task is to write a proposal for a research study on some aspect of the diversification of information-related activities noted above. Identify a research question (or several) about your chosen aspect and design a study that will allow you to answer your question(s). Among its parts, your proposal should include the following: a
demonstration of the significance of the research question; a review of previous relevant literature; a justification of your choice of design; an explanation of the data collection and analysis methods to be used; and a statement of the limitations of the design and of the study.

Two years ago, a natural disaster in a city in the Southeastern United States set off a series of events that led to an outbreak of a rare tropical disease. During that period, hurricane flooding led to evacuations, breakdown in communication systems, and the onset of the disease, which killed several hundred people in one week’s time. During the first few days of the events, the twitter feeds were public and lively, and were mapped using Google. Rumors of the disease spread through social networking, but as official power supplies ran out, and then came back sporadically, supplemented by rogue sources and private generators, questions about how access to communication systems was being controlled added to the tensions. The most vulnerable population included those with a specific sexually transmitted illness that had already damaged their immune system. Contacting this portion of the population required accessing medical records and databanks for personal information, but contact with the at-risk population through social media risked a breach of confidentiality rules. Design an experiment to study the way the data, social networking, and information systems were used in the emergency and to assure that ethical guidelines could be established to guide policies for the Center for Disease Control and FEMA ahead. Outline your project, including specific methodologies (quantitative and qualitative), and justify your choice of a method or methods. You may emphasize one approach over others, but should make clear how that decision was made.

Online social-networking services such as Facebook and MySpace are used by millions around the world. Researchers have taken many different approaches to the study of users’ motivations and activities, and to the analysis of networks’ structures. Relatively few, however, have yet explored the use of social-networking services as information systems. Your task is to write a proposal for a research study on some specified aspect of the use of social-networking services by some specified group to produce, disseminate, look for, and/or obtain access to information of some specified kind.

Choose a social-networking service (or several services to compare); identify a research question (or several) about the use of your chosen service(s) as an information system; and design a study that will allow you to answer your question(s). Among its parts, your proposal should include the following: a demonstration of the significance of the research question(s); a review of previous relevant literature; a justification of your choice of design; an explanation of the data collection and data analysis methods to be used; and a statement of the limitations of the design and of the study.

Many researchers now dismiss quantitative approaches, for a variety of reasons, and in the social sciences qualitative approaches to research have been applied widely. Today research approaches in the Information Studies field vary widely across many research methods.

Select one of your research interests, and answer all of the following questions:

a. Which methodological approaches dominate inquiry in the area of your selected research interest?

b. How does the larger debate about the strengths and weaknesses of different methodological approaches affect the conduct of research in your chosen area?

c. Describe three research designs - one based on a qualitative approach, one on a quantitative or other non-qualitative approach, and one on a mixed methods approach - for addressing a particular research question in your chosen area.

d. Discuss the adequacy and appropriateness of each design.