sinéad

As part of the M.Sc. in Cyberpsychology I conducted a research study focusing on Irish bloggers and Irish internet users that read blogs. A third of this research involved an extensive review of past psychological research on blogging, collating available statistical data with regard to Irish internet user behaviours and information regarding Irish blogging. Based on this detailed literature review and extensive consultation with both bloggers and non-bloggers a questionnaire was created and in January of this year the survey was published online, gathering 422 participants - 244 bloggers and 178 non-bloggers.

This research is the first to investigate the psychological areas of interest surrounding blogging applied to an Irish audience, and is the first in-depth study of Irish blog authors; additionally it is the first study of Irish blog readers. The results constitute an additional step toward understanding Irish bloggers, and suggests only slight differences between those who blog and those who read blogs but do not blog themselves. Based on the results gathered additional studies with regard to any cultural differences between Irish bloggers and international ones could be ascertained. The strengths of this study lie in its large sample size and the flexibility of the questionnaire itself, where participants had the option of inputting rich qualitative data.

The overall aim of this research was to explore the perceptions, attitudes and behaviours of Irish bloggers and non-blogging Irish internet users that read blogs. Attitudes to the issues surrounding blogging - trust, honesty, liability, privacy and permanence, were explored. Writer’s behaviours with regard to identity, motivations, and socialisation were investigated. Perceptions of the credibility and popularity of blogging in Ireland in comparison to other countries was investigated, and readership behaviours – frequency and origin of blogs read, were examined.

Over the next few days I will be publishing summaries of the most interesting findings, and the entire research document is now available via email request.

Though I had planned on publishing the document online I am currently writing a journal article for possible publication and therefore must wait until this process is complete before publishing the entire document online.  Participants that requested to be contacted when this research was available online will be contacted when all of the blog posts related to this research are published here.

An abstract (a very short summary) of the research is available here.

On a Sunday morning you can often hear the words “Where’s Culture?” in my house, the reply is so often “Well you won’t find any around here!” rather than something far less witty like “I’m not finished reading it, here, have News Review instead.” But who needs the Sunday Times anymore when you’ve got Culch.ie?

It’s the new group blog on the block and it’s all about the pop culture. Coming to you from the most opinionated bunch of Irish bloggers around. With it’s baby daddy being none other than Rick O’Shea it’s already got a head start. In the first offical day alone it has amassed more than 100 comments. There’s some great posts about Watchmen already up, tons of movie news, a gorgeous poem, even *I* found the time to write a post or two and you can even find some Culch on twitter too.

Online consumerism has become a prevalent part of modern life. With greater choice of availability and 24 hour access to a global market, many are now switching to shopping on the the Internet rather than walking around high streets or shopping centers for their desired purchases. Recent studies indicate that 96% of Irish Internet users have made an online purchase. But what are the perceived risks that online consumers feel?

Hello my name is Lee Kelly and I’m currently studying for a Msc Cyberpsychology. As part of the course I am conducting a research project regarding attitudes towards online shopping. More specifically this study aims to examine levels of trust placed, when using online commercial sites. The study will also try to ascertain if levels of trust online differ between Digital Natives (people who grew up surrounded by information technology) and Digital Immigrants (people who learn to use information technology in adulthood). I’m looking for participants that would fall under both groups; so if you are over 18 and enjoy shopping online then I need to recruit you (sorry I’ve been watching Milk) to take part in my Online survey.

Once again participants will be given the opportunity to win €50 Amazon voucher on completion of the survey. Thank You in advance to everyone who agrees to take part in this study and also many thank to Sinéad Cochrane for her help in allowing me to guest post.

I’ve always felt like there weren’t enough hours in the day, more so in the last two years because I’ve managed to turn myself into a raging workaholic. Working 9 to 5, Monday to Friday, going to college on Saturdays and spending countless hours each evening writing a thesis will do that to you. My plan had always been to educate myself into a better paid, more stimulating job. Now that I’m coming to the end of my Masters and with the recession wreaking havoc with the country I’m confident that this plan won’t work out. I won’t be becoming a passionate career person any time soon.

I’m being a realist.

This isn’t pessimism. I’m trying to be realistic, and I’ve taken something extremely positive from this realisation. I might not have more money in my pocket, but I’ll have so much more time. Time to re-read the books on my shelf. To be creative, to write, to take 100’s more photos. To lie on my bed listening to music for hours. To spend evenings with my friends and not worry about missing out on a night of college work. To chase a whim and embrace an opportunity. To volunteer my time to a cause that needs bodies and minds. To learn new skills, and teach my own.

I don’t need money to do these things, I just need time. Soon I’ll have a lot more of that, and I’m grateful for the consolation prize.

I’m tired of reading and hearing so many criticisms about the Bodies exhibition from anyone with a loud enough mouth to get heard. No, it’s not art. It is Science wrapped in a publicly accessible package, that in order to survive is required to market itself. Yes, it is entertainment. This is necessary in order to engage with people that have never had an interest in Biology, or any kind of Science before. It succeeds where the Science museums fail because it engages your curiosity, appeals to your intellect and forces you to have emotional reactions.

The use of real bodies is paramount to contextualising what you are seeing. For example, the initial displays, in the first room of the exhibition are just fragments of bone and flesh, parts of bodies in glass display cases. More like a “real” museum than anywhere else. One of the largest of these  displays is a pair of legs, with the muscles prominent and labelled  - but without the context of the full body the display just ends up looking like meat, like a large ham at Christmas time.

Adding even more context is the fact that they are posed, which is something that has been heavily criticised, clearly by individuals that haven’t visited the exhibition. The poses represent physical actions, and the parts of the body highlighted match this. They truly help you understand what you are seeing. For example, the cadaver pictured has all it’s individual muscles peeled away from the skeleton, posed as if about to kick something - illustrating how the body’s 650 or so muscles work together for motion or to create force.

I was surprised there weren’t more children at the exhibition when Darragh, Jen and myself went. For anyone that has fears that their child might be afraid or disguisted… all children are naturally curious, and they will only have these reactions if you have them too. The messages it teaches are important for everyone, not just to adults, or to the geeks and nerds that would usually frequent museums.

The exhibition describes how inside we are all the same, that we are not invincible and tries to make you understand the complexity and fragility of how we function. Just because it succeeds in doing this by luring you in with the promise of the macabre doesn’t make it any less valid, or any less educational.

Irish Blog Research 2009, Survey Closes

Thank you to everyone that filled out my research survey. The response rate was double what I had hoped for and I’m really looking forward to analysing the data. Thank you so much to everyone that posted links to the survey on their own blogs, who retweeted it on twitter and emailed it to their friends. Thanks to Sabrina Dent for all her great ideas ideas (that definitely worked!), to all my tweeties that helped pilot study the survey and thanks to Irishblogs.ie for highlighting the research for me.

As Promised, Prizes at the end of the Rainbow

The winner of the first €50 voucher prize draw is Claire of Gingerpixel Photography.

The winner of the second €50 voucher prize draw is Barry James of Redbird Property & Maintenance. Who also has, quite possibly, the best twitter picture I’ve ever seen.