Table of contents

Introductory remarks

Hallvard Fossheim and Helene Ingierd

Consent and information – ethical considerations when conducting research on social media

Dag Elgesem

Introduction

Consent

Example 1: Research on Internet dating services

Retaining control over one’s own information

Example 2: Research on Facebook

Reasonable expectation – of what?

Example 3: Research on political debate on Twitter

The need for protection against identification

Example 4: Research on Internet communication about mental health problems

Example 5: Research on communication processes

Conclusion

Possibilities and limitations of Internet research: A legal framework

Katrine Utaaker Segadal

New European legislation in the making

The current Norwegian legal framework

Data protection principles online

Research without consent

Obligation to provide information

Conclusion

New selves, new research ethics?

Charles Ess

Introduction

Initial (high modern) ethical frameworks for decision–making in (Internet) research ethics

Shared assumptions: (high modern) Individual agency, privacy, and IRE

(High modern) notions of selfhood/identity: Privacy as a positive good

Individual privacy as definitive for «traditional» Internet Research Ethics

(Late modern) shifts in selfhood, responsibility and privacy

Changing conceptions of selfhood and responsibility

Changing privacy practices and expectations of privacy protections

Changing philosophical conceptions of privacy

Relational selves and Internet research ethics: Successes (and failure) in the field

Implications for IRE?

Case studies

Concluding Remarks

Researching social media: Confidentiality, anonymity and reconstructing online practices

Marika Lüders

Introduction

Background: Researching online practices

Example 1: The use of social media among young people

Example 2: The use of a social intranet among knowledge workers

Conclusion

Counting children

On research methodology, ethics and policy development

Elisabeth Staksrud

Introduction

The right to be researched

Example 1: Listening to the child

Example 2: Becoming the child

Conclusion

Social research and Big Data – the tension between opportunities and realities

Kari Steen-Johnsen and Bernard Enjolras

Big Data – what is it and what can it be used for?

Opportunities and limitations for social research

What characterizes the new ecosystem for the production of knowledge?

New digital dividing lines

The responsibilities and challenges of research

Studying Big Data – ethical and methodological considerations

Anders Olof Larsson

Introduction

Big Data – size is everything?

Ethical considerations

Methodological considerations

In closing

Big Data – big trouble?

Meanderings in an uncharted ethical landscape

Robindra Prabhu

So what is Big Data, anyway?

Treading ground between the enthusiasts and the sceptics

Moving beyond the hype: «Three paradoxes of Big Data»

Whose data is it anyway?

Collect first, ask questions later

Can technology help to fix the problems it creates?

Looking beyond privacy

Moving forward

About the authors