Introduction This article discusses the use of online techniques of qualitative data collection. Whilst interest in internet research is burgeoning and a number of key texts already exist (Jones, 1999; Mann and Stewart, 2000) , for many researchers the experience of using online methods is sufficiently novel to justify an article that examines the issues raised in a specific research study. Identifying the rationale, process and experiences involved in the decision to engage in electronic research will illuminate some limitations in traditional methods of qualitative data collection. Although the specific nature of a project that investigates disability and information technology pushed the researchers to explore different and more incorporative methods of data collection, the method has significance and application for data collection more generally. Engaging in online research is innovative and timely: in responding to the opportunities presented by the information age, electronic research methods will substantially enhance the development of methodologies that relate more closely to the needs of research participants. The research context In the wider community, electronically based technology is rapidly becoming commonplace. In February 1998, 42 percent of households in Australia had a computer. Of the 4 million households without computers, 400,000 reported that they intended to purchase a computer by February 1999 (Australian Bureau of Statistics [ABS], 1998a: 3-9) . In Australia, 26 percent of males compared with 19 percent of females accessed the internet in the 12 months to February 1998 (ABS, 1998b: 4) . Out of the total sample, 42 percent of internet users were aged between 18 and 24 years old compared with 31 percent between 25 and 39 years old (ABS, 1998b: 5) . Professionals and holders of tertiary qualifications constitute by far the highest proportion of internet users (ABS, 1998b: 5-6) . Most people learned computer skills at school (42% males, 48% females), but a significant number of men and women acquired employer-based training (30% males, 26% females) (ABS, 1998a: 26) . While 23 percent of Australia's total population aged 18 years and over accessed the internet in February 1998 (ABS, 1998b: 30) , by November every third adult in Australia was online, a jump of almost 50 percent (Zampetakis, 1999: 27) . Between 1999 and 2000, Australia's online population increased by almost 1.9 million (NUA Internet Surveys, 2001 ). These statistics demonstrate the high penetration and rapid escalation of computer technology use in Australian households. The research context Figures in the UK and the USA display a similar picture of expansion. While 30 percent of the population of the UK access the internet from home, in the USA 50 percent of the population have home internet access. In the UK, men are more likely to log on to the net than women, while men and women in the USA log on in equal numbers (BBC News, 2000: 1-2) . In the USA, 69 percent of internet users go online from home and only 17 percent access the austinlisa@example.net. 'Wired' households (those with at least one member aged 12 years or older using the internet) tend to be larger, more affluent and better educated than 'non-wired' households (ACNielsen, 2000: 1-2) . The research context While the ABS provides comprehensive data on disability (1998c) and on the household use of information technology (1998a, 1998b) it does not correlate the two categories: as yet there are no data relating to the use of information technologies by people with disabilities. Not only is internet access and usage rapidly expanding, the technology is itself in a constant state of development and change. It is not surprising, therefore, that statistical data in this field also change continually. It is clear, however, that technological uptake is not a random phenomenon. Computer use is strongly related to gender, age, education and socio-economic status. The uneven distribution of technological ownership and the skills required to participate in electronic communication is inseparable from people's social position: benefits are tied to the material conditions of those participating in the network (Loader, 1998: 9; Mann and Stewart, 2000: 31-7) . Old forms of social division underpin the new information age. The rhetoric of social inclusion may obscure the possibility that information technology may deepen existing disadvantage and further marginalize those people who could be most helped by its technical attributes. The research context While the struggles of disabled people are 'crucially concerned with economic exploitation and poverty' (Shakespeare, 1993: 258) , people with disabilities have the potential to be among the major beneficiaries of the technological revolution. Information technology promises to bypass aspects of bodily function enabling participation in previously inaccessible domains. Successful electronic engagement will establish clear pathways for interpersonal relationships and social participation. In contrast to the narrow world of disability in the past, technology can facilitate the full participation of people with disabilities in the broad and expansive sphere of technoculture. But is this potential being realized? Patient groups have been quick to use the internet as a source of information and communication with others (Finn, 1999; Muncer et al., 2000; Weinberg et al., 1996) but the comfort that this brings may act to reinforce current wisdoms and diffuse the possibility of change (Seymour and Lupton, forthcoming) . There is already evidence that disabled people may be excluded from informational occupations to a greater extent than from the industrial and agricultural sectors of employment (Sapey, 2000: 631) . As a medium, technology is far from neutral: the daily escalation of computer use reproduces and strengthens social divisions related to gender, age, education and work. The 'digital divide' threatens to exacerbate existing social disadvantage. Ironically, the technology that holds the key to more egalitarian participation could well become the instrument of further discrimination. The research project The study investigating technology, disability and risk was begun in Adelaide, South Australia, in 1998. Stage one of the project involved 15 in-depth, faceto-face interviews. The nine men and six women represented a range of disabilities: seven participants were paralysed as a result of spinal injuries, four had experienced cerebral palsy, three of the participants were visually impaired and one had an amputated limb. The age of the participants ranged from 19 to 46 years. The research project Four key areas associated with technological engagement were examined. Firstly, the research was directed towards establishing the participants' understandings of the term 'technology' and their attitudes and reactions toward it. Investigating the possibility of a link between notions of technological acceptability and particular parts or functions of the body formed the second strand of the research. The third theme asked the participants to revisit and reflect upon their experiences of technological engagement. The fourth strand of the research sought to identify the participants' perceptions of obstacles to successful technological participation. The research project The first stage of the research project was deliberately broad. While a semistructured interview schedule was a requirement of the ethics committee, the interviews were constructed and conducted in the spirit of open inquiry and participation. Although the themes of understandings, links, experiences and barriers shaped the interviews, the openness of the topics invited the participants to choose how they wished to respond. The results of the interviews showed that people with disabilities often feel disenfranchised from political and social processes. The participants suggested that technology is an important avenue of personal and social communication. Successful use of technology can be closely related to issues such as independence, quality of life, empowerment, contact with the wider community, 'a path to freedom', a sense of control over life, and the facilitation of social value. Arising out of these data, the second stage of the research investigated the nature, extent and role of technology as a medium for interpersonal communication and social participation. The research project In order to incorporate as many people as possible into the study, the second stage recruited an additional 20 participants (8 men and 12 women). As in the first stage of the research, the participants represented a wide range of disabilities. While the largest segments were made up of people with spinal injuries and visual impairment, other participants live with chronic fatigue syndrome, hearing impairment, cerebral palsy, acquired brain injury, Tourette's syndrome, multiple sclerosis and arthritis. The age distribution of the participants was similarly broad. The challenge of the research topic It was the specific nature of the second stage of the research that challenged the researchers to explore more expansive methods of data collection. Located in a context of rights, equity and citizenship, the research investigated the promise and problems associated with information technology as a medium for social participation. While the face-to-face interviews used in the first stage of the project yielded rich data and provided an invaluable opportunity for the researchers to orient themselves to the topic, it was clear that this method would be unsuitable for the second stage of the project. The fact that the research was explicitly investigating the use of computer technology for communication and participation left no doubt that the researchers should respond by developing their own skills in online communication and participation by engaging in online research techniques. The methodology was consistent with the integrity of the research topic, and was an innovative and exciting dimension of the project. The challenge of the research topic While the research topic compelled us to utilize online methods, the imperatives of the disability research agenda were no less influential in our decision to actively explore more incorporative and participatory research methods. The central tenet of the social model of disability (Drake, 1999: 13) is the disabling effect of social structural factors on people with impairments (Abberley, 1987; Barton, 1996; Oliver, 1996) . This model is set in opposition to the individualistic, problem-oriented perspective of disability embraced by medicine and its practitioners that has shaped government policy and social attitudes (Barnes and Oliver, 1995; Oliver, 1992; Rioux, 1994) . As long as service provision is based on the assumptions of this model, people with disabilities will remain dependent on professional workers to patrol access to the life opportunities enjoyed by other citizens. While the notion of citizenship affirms the value of choice, independence and control (Barton, 1993) , material conditions and prevailing ideologies clearly determine the extent and quality of this citizenship (Drake, 1999: 43) . The challenge of the research topic Disability researchers are by no means immune from criticism. Writers committed to the social model of disability claim that many projects misunderstand or distort the nature and experience of disability, that they fail to involve disabled people, and that the research outcomes have little or no impact on the lives of disabled people (Barton, 1992: 99) . They contend that much disability research exacerbates the problem rather than resolving it: researchers have simply taken up and used the prevailing disablist structural forms, thus strengthening and reproducing them (Oliver, 1992: 101) . Drawing on Marx's sense of the term 'alienation' (the process of labour whereby workers become estranged from the products they have produced), the writers contend that the research process incorporates similar characteristics. Alienation is manifested in the outcome of the process of research, which estranges the research subject from the product of research, from the process itself, from other research subjects, and from self (Rowan, 1981: 93) . A radical, action-related plan to restructure the social relations of disability research has evolved over the last decade (Abberley, 1992; Barnes, 1992; Barnes and Mercer, 1997; Moore et al., 1998; Morris, 1992; Oliver, 1992; Shakespeare, 1996; Zarb, 1992) . But despite the 'blinding flash on the road to Damascus' (Hevey, 1990: 26) , the new road must be carefully and systematically built by people from diverse backgrounds and perspectives who are united by a commitment to increasing the participation and influence of disabled people in society. Enhancing opportunities for participation and control underpinned the decision to utilize online research methods in this study. The experience of online research A number of options were investigated in order to choose a suitable internet interview space. We explored the potential of AOL (America Online), ICQ ('I Participants could enter and re-enter the site as often as they wished, enabling them to extend on a particular topic, to delete or qualify a point, or to clarify their responses over time. The evolution and development of the communication could be traced by reading each message in a threaded discussion. In contrast to the single scheduled interview of much traditional qualitative research, it is clear that this facility offered participants a much more generous opportunity to express their views and to influence the research outcomes. The experience of online research For researchers new to online research, the assurance of ready support from an in-house provider was a significant incentive to choose the threaded interview site over other internet resources. The capacity to log the responses provided the researchers with the opportunity to map the course of the interview. In terms of the practical dimensions of the research process, the major advantage related to the costs of conducting a qualitative project. Interviews could be easily transferred into word documents for subsequent data analysis, thus eliminating the time-consuming and expensive process of data transcription. The experience of online research Exploring a new research technique has an impact on all research participants. Since our intention was to create a more egalitarian research medium that reflected the integrity of the research, we were mindful that we should not commit the research participants to time-consuming or overly detailed technical procedures in the process. The early part of the project involved both researcher and participants in basic skill acquisition and in familiarization with the design of the interview page. Since this involved a significant amount of time, the tension between acquiring competence and confidence in the process while avoiding overly arduous commitments of time or patience was the overriding theme of the early stage of the research. The experience of online research Participants were also recruited by electronic means using a readily available disability listserver with a wide circulation. A clear statement in the initial project information described the mechanics and rationale of the selection process. The good response rate facilitated the development of a sampling frame from which to select participants in terms of demographic representation related to gender, age and type of disabling condition. The experience of online research The ethical conduct of the research process may be even more important in an online situation. The choice of an in-house provider avoided many of the issues that could be raised by using an external internet server or site. A consent form outlining the content and nature of the interview was e-mailed Qualitative Research 1 (2) 152 to participants. The form included the name of the invited participant and the date of the request. Participants were asked to type 'yes' or 'no' in the designated place in order to indicate their understanding of the nature of the proposed project and their willingness to be interviewed. Once returned, the form was printed, signed by the researcher, and securely filed with other research materials. Embedded in the rapid development of internet research is the probability that the full implications of procedures may only be understood in retrospect. This was certainly so in the case of obtaining informed consent from the participants in this study. We are grateful for a subsequent and thorough discussion of this issue in Mann and Stewart's recent publication (2000: 48-57) . The experience of online research As always, data security was a critical element. While issues of confidentiality and ensuring the confidence of participants in the security of their information are critical in all research, the online context may heighten these concerns. Participants who used the primary interview site established access and security by means of their own password and username. Yet despite our well-intentioned assurances, the issue of online security remains highly contentious. Stories of hackers and other intruders into the alleged privacy and anonymity of electronic communication are commonplace in the popular media, but familiarity may cause complacency. Although we offered to set up a password for the few people who subsequently decided to use e-mail in preference to the primary internet interview site, no-one chose to use this precaution. The experience of online research While the method was chosen because of its non-confining qualities, the borderless nature of the research added a new dimension to research management. Having invited participants to respond when it suits them, the researcher must accommodate this freedom into the design of the research program. The shortest interview, for example, was completed over 22 days, with the longest extending over 75 days. The average duration of the interviews in the study was 42.6 days. Although the project was specifically constructed to expand the data-collecting process traditionally associated with qualitative interviews, the long duration and open nature of the interview raised a number of significant issues. Incorporating participants into a sense of ongoing commitment while at the same time enabling them to set the pace of their contribution may be difficult to manage. Gaps in communication may assume heightened importance in online research. Understanding why a participant might be slow to respond or may withdraw from a project might elude the researcher, yet the non-response rate in many questionnaire-based or survey research projects is often large, and similarly obscured. In the absence of visual or voice cues, the researcher may be left to speculate on the meaning of a break in communication. The experience of online research Seven of the 20 participants used the threaded discussion site exclusively and five participants transferred to e-mail during the research process. Six participants chose to use e-mail from the beginning. Because of difficulties in Seymour: Exploring qualitative research methodologies 153 accessing the web page, one participant chose to use e-mail mode and another opted for a face-to-face interview. Thus seven participants used email from the beginning and one participant accepted the offer to be interviewed face-to-face after struggling to learn the techniques. Of the five people who transferred to e-mail, one person had completed three sections of the five-section schedule before transferring, three people had completed the second section, and one transferred after completing the first section of the schedule. While all participants possessed basic computer and internet literacy, not all were equally competent. In response to a 'quietness' in the web page the researcher sometimes chose to make contact via e-mail because of its immediate qualities. However the participants may have seen the researcher's use of e-mail as an incentive for them to continue the interview by e-mail. Once a participant decided to transfer from the threaded discussion site to e-mail, all subsequent communication occurred in this mode. Our timidity as new online researchers may also have influenced our readiness to accommodate participants' suggestions to change their mode of contact. The experience of online research Familiarity with e-mail technique was the most common reason given for abandoning the primary site in favour of an e-mail interview, but the design of the web page was clearly a constraining factor for some participants. Participants claimed that the page was distracting, and that the technical aspects diverted their attention from the research questions. Some people had difficulties cutting and pasting the questions and answers into a single response space. Several participants claimed that the size of the response box and the small-text font taxed their concentration and impacted on their responses. While some participants developed strategies to facilitate this process, the task was nevertheless a time-consuming aspect of using the threaded discussion site. Even those who managed these aspects of the site stated a preference for e-mail because of its simplicity and familiar form. The experience of online research The overriding intention of the study was to create a research context that was conducive to easy participation and enabled the participants to influence the direction of the research. Although online communication was the explicit topic of the research and recruitment of participants via a listserver presumed a certain level of computer expertise, we were adamant that participation should not be impeded by lack of technical skill or confidence. Indeed, the integrity of the research topic would be compromised by a 'mystique of methods' (Mann and Stewart, 2000: 29) . Our decision to use the threaded discussion site was arrived at after careful consideration of key dimensions of the study. Certainly our inexperience as first-time online researchers may have biased us toward the comfort of an in-house provider, but the choice was primarily informed by a desire to create a more egalitarian research medium. Readiness to accept the participant's suggestions to change sites was motivated by the overriding goal of facilitating the free flow of the communication. Any lack of technical competence or confidence was Qualitative Research 1(2) 154 secondary to this goal, especially for participants who were already managing a range of issues related to their disability. The rapid expansion of literature documenting and appraising the use of online methods that has appeared since we conducted this study will enhance our confidence and may well stiffen our resolve for subsequent work. The debate over methods Research in the social sciences has long been characterized by the qualitative or quantitative distinction (Daly and Willis, 1990; Minichiello et al., 1990; Patton, 1990; Strauss, 1987) . While quantitative methods are seen to produce objective, value-free knowledge, qualitative methods are seen to yield no more than subjective, value-laden accounts. Aligned against each other, the two approaches are reduced to competing research modalities within the social sciences. The debate over methods Social scientists have typically seen the face-to-face encounter as the quintessence of qualitative research. The immediacy created when researcher and researched share place and time is thought to produce humane, sensitive data that reflect the interests of both parties. The interaction generated when two people meet is considered to be the critical medium for narrowing the gap between researcher and researched. Bodily presence signifies strong commitment, openness, good practice and the likelihood of 'authentic' research outcomes. Confidence that a meeting will proceed in a fair and responsible manner is enhanced through a context of mutual commitment and a sense of shared purpose. The face-to-face interview is seen as the optimal way to actively engage with the research subject in a manner that maximizes the efficacy and equality of the data collecting enterprise. Both the techniques and the metaphors of qualitative research are corporal: the values of trust, truth and equity are explicitly linked with corporeality. But it is this very aspect of qualitative research -the intense bodily nature of the research context -that is the key issue of contention in the enduring debate between qualitative and quantitative research methodologies. If it is the body that is contentious, where is the body in online data collection? The debate over methods Erving Goffman amply demonstrated the centrality of the body in the development and maintenance of social encounters and in mediating the relationship between one's self-identity and one's social identity (Goffman, 1959 (Goffman, , 1963 (Goffman, , 1964 . The body not only enables the individual to participate in social encounters, but also engages in and alters the flow of everyday routines and relationships. Although Goffman's work was critical in placing human embodiment at the centre of everyday social interaction, the body in Goffman's writings was encumbered by 'body idiom' or 'conventionalized discourse' (Shilling, 1993; Turner, 1992) , by 'bodily appearance and personal acts: dress, bearing, movement and position, sound level, physical Seymour The debate over methods gestures such as waving and saluting, facial decorations, and broad emotional expression' (Goffman, 1963: 33) . Conventionalized discourse provides vital data for the interpretation of personal qualities and attributes. The complex dimensions of voice production, facial movement and expression add deep layers of meaning to human communication. Although happiness, sadness and pain may be experienced in non-visible ways, the physical body is a powerful medium for the expression of emotions. Culturally specific meanings or learned mannerisms and gestures may complicate the interpretation of non-verbal communication or 'body language', but their presence is nonetheless a critical source of information. While gestures, postures, emotional expressions and mannerisms are unequivocally bodily activities, they are activities that are enacted within the constraints imposed by society. While seemingly focused on the corporeal component of action, Goffman's work can be seen as less about the body and more about the power of social classifications and the receptiveness of the mind to shared vocabularies of meaning (Shilling, 1993: 88) . The body is situated within a social context and is subject to its categories. It is through these social categories that the body is revealed. The debate over methods In championing qualitative methods, Bryman (1984) epitomizes the beliefs that underpin this position. He claims that qualitative research is committed to contextual understanding: behaviour is understood in the context of meaning systems used by a particular group of people in society. Qualitative research is fluid and flexible, Bryman (1984: 77-8) argues, because it emphasizes the possibility of discovering novel or unanticipated findings and the possibility of altering research plans in response to these findings. While the body is credited with facilitating the acquisition of highly desirable research qualities, it is clear that the corporeal enthusiasm of many qualitative researchers is also based on a deference to conventionalized discourse and shared vocabularies of meaning. These factors cannot be 'bracketed out' (Giddens, 1991: 3) while the research proceeds -indeed it is these very elements which constitute the context and the quality that qualitative researchers hold dear. Thus the bodily expressions of class, gender, prestige, ethnicity, age and notions of ability are intrinsic to the data that are produced in the qualitative interview. The debate over methods Qualitative research incorporates a range of highly personal elements: social conventions underpin the bodily nature of face-to-face encounters. Merely 'fronting up' for an interview will provide both researcher and researched with an extensive amount of information. Instant judgements are made on the basis of appearance, dress and bearing; less overt but equally powerful cues evolve as the interview proceeds. Though taken for granted, the rituals of social interaction underpin the interview: they may not only obscure the focus of the interview but also lessen the likelihood that significant insights will be revealed. Qualitative Research 1(2) 156 Far from being a neutral environment, the setting in which the research takes place is centrally implicated in the data that are produced. The domestic home, for example, is a potent site of personal identification. Social class, prestige and aspirations are readily accessible in this context. Not surprisingly, the potential for attribution of meaning is greatly enhanced if the research is conducted in a domestic location. Women are more likely than men to be interviewed within their homes (Seymour, 1998: 26) : this not only heightens the vulnerability of women in the interview process (Finch, 1984; Koutroulis, 1993: 88) , but also serves as a fertile source of information about the embodied self. Men, on the other hand, are much more likely to be interviewed at their work or in a public place (Seymour, 1998: 26) . While underlining the differences in the social roles of men and women, this also greatly enhances a man's ability to contain his embodied self. Qualitative Research 1(2) 156 Whether responding to an open advertisement or accepting a 'snowballed' recommendation from others (Minichiello et al., 1990: 198) , people choose to participate in a research project because they believe that they have 'something to contribute' or that they possess particular attributes that are central to the topic. The task of recruiting research participants and establishing interview arrangements often involves detailed processes of negotiation and discussion during which the researcher and the interviewee acquire knowledge about each other and about the nature, values and outcomes of the research. These negotiations may help to promote a 'subject-subject relation' rather than a 'subject-object relation' to the field of study. However, they may also set up a situation in which the pre-interpreted meanings of the study participants determine the research outcomes (Cohen and Manion, 1989: 26) . A group interview might be seen to redress some of the highly personal dimensions of the one-to-one interview, but may also simply compound the effect of these factors. For example, members may feel compelled to display particular attitudes or positions to other group members, thus exacerbating rather than reducing the inter-corporeal nature of the qualitative interview. Qualitative Research 1(2) 156 What then of the questionnaire, the preferred instrument of the quantitative researcher? The questionnaire is most often set up in opposition to the face-to-face interview. Contrasting expectations are embedded in the terms used in the respective methodologies: the term 'respondent' indicates a passive, responsive role in relation to the project, whereas the term 'participant' connotes an equal and active engagement in the process and outcomes of the research. The fleshy, bodily components that saturate the interview context have no place in the tightly controlled context of the structured questionnaire. The quantitative tool is valued for its documental nature, its scientific objectivity and its detachment from personal and bodily concerns. Bypassing the voice and the diverting presence of the live body is thought to ensure a more neutral context for the research process. The random, mass nature of the distribution of the questionnaire frees recipients from the obligations, responsibilities, duties and sense of common purpose engendered by the face-to-face context. While the decision to participate may be influenced by a number of factors related to time, family responsibilities or health concerns, these issues are related to the respondent's personal circumstances rather than the dynamics of the researcher/researched relationship. Qualitative Research 1(2) 156 Unconstrained by time and place, the respondent may choose when and how to answer the questions. In the privacy of a home, the respondent can answer in a manner that is free from the coercive elements generated in the face-to-face situation. While the respondent may come to the questionnaire with a highly developed sense of responsibility and commitment to the issue being researched, these beliefs are extrinsic to the research, not created by the nature of the research context. The person responds directly to the questionnaire and to its embedded ambiguities: the meaning is not 'clarified' by the researcher; the data are not 'coaxed' out of the respondent; and the questions are not rephrased or reformed to elicit a specific response. Evaluating our experience of online research Six key elements characterize our experience with online research. Evaluating our experience of online research The first element relates to the quality and purpose of the research. While the questionnaire offers a degree of latitude in terms of spatial and temporal considerations, the use of this instrument, like the face-to-face interview, is essentially a 'single opportunity' style of data collection. Exceptions such as the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health conducted by Women's Health Australia at the University of Newcastle warrant special mention. Started in June 1995, the study is investigating the health problems, lifestyles and experiences of health services of three age cohorts of women. The regular collection of information over two decades will yield rich data: the continuity will enable the women to set their health problems and experiences into the context of their lives. Though far less systematic, the intriguing 7+7 series is an excellent visual example of a longitudinal study which began over 35 years ago. Evaluating our experience of online research Yet despite notable exceptions and years of substantial critique by social scientists, the 'laboratory conditions' associated with the medico-scientific approach still haunt much research in the social sciences. While attempting to 'freeze the social world into structured immobility and to reduce the role of human beings to elements' (Morgan and Smircich, 1980: 498) may construct a manageable context for the researcher, it does grave disservice to the rich complexities of human social life (Seymour, 1998: 23) . Evaluating our experience of online research Thus the release of the interview from its imprisonment in time and place is a significant issue for qualitative research. The possibility of communication interchange addresses the issue at the core of the critique of quantitative research -its detachment from the vitality and the vagaries of Qualitative Research 1 (2) 158 people's lives. Accessible discussion sites, open for an extended period of time, provide access to issues and ideas as they arise rather than as they are recalled in retrospect. Participants -researcher and researched -may revisit the data, ask for clarification, extend a point or redirect the research. In contrast to the essentially question-response nature of the face-to-face interview and the questionnaire, technology facilitates the development of ongoing communicational interaction between the participants and will thus make a significant contribution to more egalitarian research. Evaluating our experience of online research The second element involves more practical considerations. The savings which accrue from bypassing the labour-intensive, time-consuming and costly tasks associated with recording and transcribing lengthy qualitative interviews, while not of the same order as the first element, are by no means insignificant. Research is conducted within the parameters of the funding that has been allocated for the project. The topic of the research, the extent of participant involvement, and decisions about methodologies are inevitably influenced by financial concerns. Since budget management is central to most research projects, researchers will be keen to avoid the costs associated with recording and transcribing. Eliminating the costs involved in this practical task will contribute to the development of a more expansive data collecting enterprise. Evaluating our experience of online research The third element involves specific issues related to disability research. While this article is principally concerned with evaluating the experience and implications of online qualitative data collection, the research has proceeded in the context of the prerogatives of the disability research agenda. Is it possible for data collection, the basic component of the research enterprise, to be more egalitarian, more neutral, less pre-constructed, and less influenced by a myriad of presuppositions about the nature of the participants and the outcome of the interview? In the past the issue of objectivity has dominated discussions on methodology and has diverted attention from more important considerations. While under no illusions about objectivity, it is nevertheless critical that all research takes into account the factors involved in its own production (Latour, 1988: 166; Plummer, 1995: 13) including, of course, the role of the researcher (Seymour, 1998: 28; Seymour, in press; Wynne, 1988: 103) . Evaluating our experience of online research 'Giving a voice' means more than providing the researched with an opportunity to speak: it involves creating the appropriate means and communication context for the research participants. The open interview site employed in this research greatly expands the opportunities for introducing new elements into the interview schedule, and for engaging in dialogue rather than the didactic forms of traditional research. The method is structured to accommodate the range of priorities in people's everyday lives. People may initiate contact when and where it suits them, and they have time to consider the issues and to elaborate or delete previous comments. In these ways they may influence the framing and nature of the research issues and process. Freeing data collection from the constraints of the visible body, location and time are significant elements in liberating the interview from the influence of traditional qualitative research. The interview is more open, more discursive, less pre-constructed, and less dominated by the corporeal presence. Evaluating our experience of online research The fourth element relates to the challenge posed to the researcher by online qualitative data collection. Participant observation has a long tradition. Although associated with anthropological fieldwork and thus underpinned by a notion of 'making sense of exotic practices', this technique is often used by people who wish to engage with people as collaborators rather than passive informants (Seymour, 1989 (Seymour, : 6, 1998 . However, it is the element of 'observation' that can locate the approach in a 'them' and 'us' research relationship. In contrast, a researcher using online techniques for data collection becomes a participant researcher. The approximation of researcher and researched in cyberspace frees both participants from the demands of time and context and from the presumptions associated with the visible body. If bodily indicators associated with age, gender, class, prestige, ethnicity and standards of ability are less overt, the potential for the development of a more genuinely egalitarian and participatory research is significantly enhanced (Kendall, 1999) . Evaluating our experience of online research While true participatory research is a critical element in changing the social relations of research production, it is a new terrain for many researchers. Lives are lived as the interview proceeds: research participants react with pleasure or distress, concern or jubilation to activities and events in their lives. The extended time frame captures this: it is not 'bracketed out' (Giddens, 1991: 3) . While 42.6 days (the average duration of the online interviews in this study) is a small segment of time in a whole lifetime, it does provide a far more expansive canvas than the 'frozen snapshot' associated with many qualitative and quantitative studies. Evaluating our experience of online research Just as the researched are immersed in their daily lives as they participate in the research, so too are the researchers -in their own lives as well as the life events of the participants. In everyday life, disclosing personal information to others involves a sense of reciprocity, the exchange guaranteeing responsibility and care with the information. Asking people to disclose personal information to a faceless interviewer may also invoke this response -in order to equalize the research relationship the interviewer may engage in personal disclosure. The researcher's thoughts and reflections become part of the ongoing interview process. While the exchange may engender confidence that the interview is being conducted in a responsible and caring manner, this practice demands careful analysis in a future paper. Evaluating our experience of online research Reflecting on their long involvement as participant observer researchers, Renee Fox and Judith Swazey recognized signs of 'participant-observer burnout' (Fox and Swazey, 1992: 199) . They draw on anthropologist Margaret Mead's (1977) observations of her career as a field researcher: Evaluating our experience of online research Mead claimed that 'Immersing oneself in the ongoing life of other people is good, but one must be careful not to drown' (p. 7). For online researchers, the warning about drowning should be taken seriously. While the differences between traditional participant observation and online qualitative data collection are many, the central element -close involvement in other people's lives for a considerable period of time -is common to both methodologies. Evaluating our experience of online research The fifth element relates to the body. As suggested earlier in this article, the techniques and metaphors of qualitative research are corporal, with values of trust, truth and equity being explicitly linked with corporeality. Quantitative research, on the other hand, is ostensibly detached from the vagaries of the body: its professed neutrality is sustained by explicitly bypassing the voice and the diverting presence of the body. If it is the body that is the issue of contention in the enduring debate, where is the body in online data collection? Evaluating our experience of online research People with physical disabilities use technologies to augment, strengthen or bypass aspects of the body that may impede their participation in everyday life. The research project investigated the obstacles, risks, fears and outcomes of technological engagement. Since the research focus was technological engagement, the researchers responded to the topic by employing technology to conduct the research project -the body was to all intents 'eliminated'. Participants were recruited on an electronic listserver, and for 19 of the 20 participants the research was conducted in a body-less context. There were neither verbal nor visual clues, and even the consent form was 'signed' in typescript. The physical bodily presence so valued by qualitative researchers was absent, as were the bodily productions of voice and handwriting. If people with disabilities use technology to bypass the body and if researchers use online technologies to interrogate this topic, are the researchers also bypassing the body? Is there a body in the net (Argyle and Shields, 1996) ? Is there a body in online research? If the body is central to qualitative research, is it possible to conduct qualitative research without a body? Evaluating our experience of online research Our experience with online data collection forced us to acknowledge the underlying interpersonal work that is involved in traditional face-to-face interviews. We had to learn how to demonstrate online rapport: we had to think deeply about how we could convey the same confidence, commitment, sincerity and trustworthiness in the body-less medium that we have taken for granted in the face-to-face interview. While our success can be measured by the number of people who agreed to be included in the sampling frame and the enthusiasm of the people who participated in the interviews, the experience reinforced earlier discussion about the taken-for-granted centrality of the body in qualitative research. Evaluating our experience of online research But, as discussed earlier, while qualitative research invests great faith in bodily presence, the enthusiasm rests not on the body, but on conventionalized discourse. While seemingly corporeal, the interactional outcomes are supported by shared vocabularies of meaning -social classifications, not embodiment (Shilling, 1993: 88) . Despite the invisibility of the body in online research, the body remains essential to the process, conduct and outcomes of the research. Like Goffman's early work on everyday social interaction, the human body is also central to online interaction -not the lived body, but discourses and shared meanings about the body transmitted in an online context. While technology facilitated access to research participants and greatly expanded the possibilities of the interview, we may underestimate the presence of the body in electronic communication, and overestimate the power of the body to facilitate the face-to-face situation. Textual cues such as the emoticans and smilies of text messaging, for example, have already arisen to replace the body language and voice inflections of face-to-face interactions. While traditional qualitative research is heavily influenced by the visible expressions of class, gender, prestige, ethnicity, age and notions of ability, the interactional nature of the online interview draws on the very conventional discourses, mannered behaviours and pre-interpreted meanings in which these social categories are embedded -not visible to the 'naked' eye, perhaps, but nevertheless 'visible' in the discourse. Evaluating our experience of online research The sixth element relates to questions of methodology. Investigating disability and technology demanded a methodology to fit the topic. Disability is a time-consuming lifestyle (Seymour, forthcoming) and conducting the research online removed the need for the participants to leave their home environment. Addressing the physical impediments associated with space and time were significant advantages in this study. But while the decision to engage in online research was motivated by practical concerns, our experience has raised a number of issues for research methods more generally. Evaluating our experience of online research Our intention was to create a more accessible research site, but in the process we may have unwittingly reproduced some of the issues that have characterized research in the past. The extended communicational possibilities, for example, may have imposed more, not less, demands on participants' time: the open site could be seen as a protracted way of doing an interview -one conducted over weeks or months, not merely an hour or two. Although this was not raised as a problem in this study, the putative value of any research project can never justify imposing an extra burden on people's lives. Evaluating our experience of online research The immediacy of the interaction created when interviewer and interviewee share space and time is seen as a powerful corrective to the dehumanizing, impersonal tools employed by more positivist-oriented researchers. But is this value overstated? Although the physical body is reassuring and we may feel confident in our ability to read and evaluate its language, we may fail to analyze our assumptions about such encounters, especially in terms of the impact on people who are the subjects of the research. Evaluating our experience of online research While fronting up to a face-to-face interview reveals a wealth of information to both researcher and researched, online communication proceeds within a similar framework of conventional discourses and vocabularies of meaning: talking to a machine may in fact encourage more expansive discussion. Ironically, traditional methods may serve to protect the interests of research participants. The bodily presence of research participants or a well-structured questionnaire may act as a salutary reminder of the purpose of the research enterprise -data collection -not conversation or therapy. Evaluating our experience of online research Yet the setting in which a face-to-face interview is conducted is a potent source of information in its own right. A researcher can deduce vital information from the wealth of non-verbal clues available in 'real' settings. While these data are immensely valuable to a researcher, the 'nakedness' of the participant to the researcher's gaze is an issue of concern. Certainly online data collection obscures the more overt attributes of the conventional research site, but the setting, like the body, remains visible in the discourse. Evaluating our experience of online research Although presenting the possibility of hidden spaces, online methods offer little real protection from the researchers' assumptions and non-scheduled agendas. Participant exposure is a critical issue in the quest for more egalitarian research methods pursued in this study. Evaluating our experience of online research Our eyes are formidable tools of discrimination. Unable to access the familiar means of assessing the truth and authenticity of research information, how can an online researcher feel confident in the data he or she collects? The answer is simply this -we should feel no more or no less confident with the veracity of online data than with data collected in an interview or questionnaire. While the invisibility of online participants may discomfort us, participants in interview-or questionnaire-based research are well able to create their own 'invisibilities'. Are people's off-line characteristics reproduced in online contexts (Herring, 1994) or are virtual bodies created? Are we learning about 'real' life as we collect data online, or are we collecting data about people's online lives as a field of research (Waern, 2000) ? Clearly the critical issue is not the status of online data per se, but the relationship of all data to 'the real' (Woolgar, 2000) . Our experiences of online research have forced us to examine the prejudices and assumptions that underpin our confidence in 'the face' and in the questionnaire. Evaluating our experience of online research While bodily presence is credited with the construction of a 'good interview', the highly valued attributes of the face-to-face encounteropenness, flexibility and fluidity -are actually compromised by many of the processes involved in recruitment, selection, induction and conduct of the interview. Rapport between participants and a sense of shared purpose may confine the research parameters and curtail the discovery of novel or unanticipated findings. While a decision to join a research project is related to people's evaluation of themselves in terms of the criteria and goals of the research, a range of structural factors underpin participation. Invisible issues such as availability, networks, profile, family commitments, health issues and bodily competence define the composition of the research group. The group is made up of people who feel closely aligned to the orientation and goals of the project and who occupy a structural position that enables them to participate. People who are unable or who do not wish to engage in a research project are invisible -an issue embedded in both qualitative and quantitative research. While technological access, skill and confidence are additional elements in the decision to participate in online research, the criteria that underpin the construction of a research group remain just as opaque in the online situation as in more traditional methodologies. Evaluating our experience of online research As the statistics at the beginning of the article clearly demonstrate, interest and enthusiasm for information and communication technologies are burgeoning in the general community. While this article has reflected on the experiences of using online research in a particular study, it is vital to consider the implications of online approaches to social science methodologies more generally. Although novel in form, is online data collection merely small-scale tinkering with methods or a more radical reconceptualization of methodology (Virtual Methodology?, 2000) . Can we continue to employ existing research methods to do online research? Evaluating our experience of online research In summarizing current reactions to the relationship between research methods and new technologies, Hine identifies three broad camps. First she suggests that online environments are significantly different and thus pose a challenge to traditional research methods. A second camp claims that online environments are no different and thus require no modification of traditional methods of investigation. The middle ground is reflected in the position held by the third camp. If online environments are thought to be significantly different, an opportunity is created for exploring new ways of doing research that reflect the way the world seems to be and an opportunity for reflecting on the assumptions inherent in different ways of doing research (Hine, 2000) . The exploration undertaken in this project sits within the broad dimensions of the third camp. Evaluating our experience of online
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