THE USE OF FACEBOOK IN SOCIAL RESEARCH. THE VIRTUAL SNOWBALL METHOD APPLIED TO THE STUDY OF IMMIGRANT ENTREPRENEURS IN SPAIN Fabiola Baltar, PHD Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata Mar del Plata- Argentina [email protected]Ignasi Brunet Icart, PHD Universitat Rovira i Virgili Tarragona- Spain [email protected]VIRTUAL PRESENTATION
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Fabiola Baltar, PHD Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata Mar del Plata- Argentina [email protected] Ignasi Brunet Icart, PHD Universitat Rovira i Virgili.
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THE USE OF FACEBOOK IN SOCIAL RESEARCH. THE VIRTUAL SNOWBALL METHOD APPLIED TO THE STUDY OF
IMMIGRANT ENTREPRENEURS IN SPAIN
Fabiola Baltar, PHDUniversidad Nacional de Mar del Plata
THE USE OF FACEBOOK IN SOCIAL RESEARCH. THE VIRTUAL SNOWBALL METHOD APPLIED TO THE STUDY
OF IMMIGRANT ENTREPRENEURS IN SPAIN
Online survey and the quality of information
DATA
INSTANT COLLECTION
@ 24 HOURS ACCESS
@ FILTER QUESTIONS
@ INSTANT CONTACT IN CASE OF ABANDON OR WRONG ANSWERS
@ OBTEIN THE RESULTS WHILE THE DATA ARE COLLECTED
CONTROL
THE USE OF FACEBOOK IN SOCIAL RESEARCH. THE VIRTUAL SNOWBALL METHOD APPLIED TO THE STUDY
OF IMMIGRANT ENTREPRENEURS IN SPAIN
CONCLUSION
@ We conclude that using Facebook to explore hard to reach
population (Argentinean entrepreneurs in Spain) can save time
and costs, extent the size of the sample and the geographical
scope of the study.
@ It is important to consider that virtual research needs to
apply the same methodological steps to guarantee the
scientific rigor and validation.
@ Virtual networks are dynamic (e.g. people enter and exit the
net; information is temporally online). It necessary to define
time boundaries for the data collection, build the sample frame
with information of the units of observation and save the
documentation that supports the research results.
THE USE OF FACEBOOK IN SOCIAL RESEARCH. THE VIRTUAL SNOWBALL METHOD APPLIED TO THE STUDY
OF IMMIGRANT ENTREPRENEURS IN SPAIN
CONCLUSION
We believe that online research can be as serious as
online transactions, political campaigns or learning
courses are. Scientific social research understands
reality and its changes. Nowadays it is impossible to
understand human behaviour and its context without
taking account of this virtual reality.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION
THE USE OF FACEBOOK IN SOCIAL RESEARCH. THE VIRTUAL SNOWBALL METHOD APPLIED TO THE STUDY
OF IMMIGRANT ENTREPRENEURS IN SPAIN
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