Virtual Methods

Internet Behaviour and Virtual Methods • 25
and behavioural confirmation, as the interaction progresses, so the inflated positive
impressions will be magnified as the communicators seek to confirm their initial
impressions, and in turn respond to the positive impressions conveyed by their partners
(Walther 1996).
Internet Behaviour: Implications for Online Research
Clearly, if people behave differently online compared to offline, this may well have
implications for social scientists who use the Internet as a research tool. Indeed,
there is considerable evidence that within a research setting, people also disclose
more about themselves online compared to in offline equivalents, and that much of
that disclosure is more candid.
For instance, socially desirable responding is the tendency for people to present
themselves in a positive light in a research setting. Compared to a pencil and paper
survey, answers to an electronic survey are less socially desirable and lead to the
disclosure of more information about the self (Kiesler and Sproull 1986; Weisband
and Kiesler 1986; Joinson 1999; Frick Bächtiger and Reips 2001). In a metaanalysis
of self-disclosure on computer forms, Weisband and Kiesler found that
the effect of using a computer on self-disclosure is highest when collecting sensitive
information. Compared to other research methods, when data collection is
conducted via computer-aided self-interviews (where participants type their
answers on to a laptop), people report more health-related problems (Epstein,
Barker and Kroutil 2001), more HIV-risk behaviours (Des Jarlais et al. 1999) and
more drug use (Lessler et al. 2000); men report fewer sexual partners, and women
more (Tourangeau & Smith 1996). Similarly, automated or computerized telephone
interviews, compared to other forms of telephone interviewing, lead to
higher levels of reporting of sensitive information (see Lau, Tsui and Wang 2003;
Tourangeau 2004). However, although the weight of evidence suggests high selfdisclosure
and low social desirability in computerized research – on the WWW,
interviews and telephone – there have also been occasions when no differences are
found between offline and online research methods (Fox and Schwartz 2002;
Birnbaum 2004; Buchanan and Joinson 2004). It is unclear why an effect might be
found in some studies and not in others, and there are often a number of confounding
variables – for instance, between anonymity and being in the presence of
others, timing, identifiability and sample motivation. In the following sections, five
aspects of the design of virtual methods, the impact on responses, and links to
general Internet behaviour, are discussed.