4 - METHODOLOGY
This report aims to explain why blogging is an important addition to the media landscape, using existing research on zines as a base from which to examine this question. The approach taken will be a close consideration of three zine-blogs in an attempt to assess their impact on traditional print-media. Here I will discuss the methodology required to answer this
question. It will be divided into categories of research. I will examine the questions of how qualitative and quantitative research are appropriate for this project, and the most fitting ways to conduct this research. In addition there will be an analysis of the likely reliability of my research.
This research will be examining three Weblogs that cover the topic of contemporary music: Plan B, Popjustice and No Rock and Roll Fun.Although the sites they appear on may also contain feature-style articles, or even other bloggers, I will be focusing my research on the Weblogs, as I feel these are the most interesting elements.
The qualitative research for this project will involve interviews with the three blogger/editors. Ideally these would be face-to-face semi-structured interviews, but constraints of time and distance will obviously affect this, and it may become necessary to carry out interviews over the telephone or by email. In order to reduce the likelihood of this, I will be focussing my research on the UK media and Weblogging community. In addition I hope this will partly redress the current imbalance in existing research on UK Weblogs, as most of the previous academic studies that have taken place have done so in America. For the same reason, I will be looking at non-news blogging, which seems to make up the majority of the Blogosphere, but which has not previously been examined academically. I have decided to focus on music based Weblogs, as music journalists have been among the most enthusiastic and numerous in their adoption of the new medium, in this country. I believe this to be because of the existing culture in the music press, where many journalists have previously run fanzines.
The questions I intend to ask will deal with why they have chosen to use blogging in order to express their opinions on the web. This will particularly apply to the editors of Plan B and Popjustice, which both have blogs and feature-style elements on their sites. I will also ask whether the editors consider what they write on their Weblogs to be journalism, and whether they feel that their Weblogs are subversive in their portrayal of the media.
I had initially wanted to conduct online questionnaires for both bloggers and blog-readers, but decided that it would be difficult to obtain access to these people and therefore to find a random selection. Allowing respondents to self-select would certainly negate the research. I am, therefore, focusing on the recipients of feedback, rather than the people who have left
it.
I am disappointed that I could not include any female bloggers in this dissertation. The male domination of the music press necessitated my focusing on males. According to the Perseus survey, slightly more than half of bloggers are female [48]In this sense, therefore, my research will not be representative of the Blogosphere as a whole. This is frustrating, but cannot be helped.
I had also intended to interview a larger number of journalists and bloggers, but constraints of time meant that this was impossible. This will affect the reliability of my study, in that it would be useful to have a larger number of respondents. I believe, however, that by focusing on a niche audience, music zine/blogs, that I will be able to have interviewed a large proportion of those undertaking it. And I hope that I will certainly have interviewed the most popular and successful of the music bloggers. I may, however, interview other music journalist/bloggers, in order to
gain more understanding as to why music journalists are particularly keen to become bloggers.
Existing quantative research will be invaluable for this project: up-to-date statistics on weblogging are readily available online. For statistics on, for instance, the number of blogs in existence, I will probably use pre-collected data, which is readily available from blog count[49], and the Perseus blog survey[50], undertaken
in the last quarter of 2003.
It may be interesting to look at the perceived reliability of the Weblogs under examination. One of the best ways to do this is by looking at how many other Weblogs or sites have linked back to the original, since the Web is a linkocracy. This refers to the stratification of Weblogs based on the number of inbound links to each site: the more citations, the more reliable the site is perceived to be, particularly if the links come from well-respected sites themselves. Fortunately, there are existing websites that analyse data to discover this, such as Blogdex[51] or Daypop[52]. It is also possible to do this using Google’s[53] search engine
Quotes from both interviews and the Weblogs themselves will be used to explain the relationship between a blogger and his Weblog. Findings will be presented as case studies, examining each Weblog in turn and then comparing the three afterwards. It will be easier to fully analyse each Weblog like this, and therefore to ensure that the comparisons are more direct. In addition to the case studies, there will be a discussion of the place of these Weblogs within the traditional media. I will look at citations from major media sources to each Weblog. In the cases of Everett True and Peter Robinson, who both write in the traditional media, it would be useful to see if anything from their Weblog has appeared elsewhere – whether they are likely to recycle blog material for their professional writing.
I expect the analysis will demonstrate that these Weblogs will fit the category of ‘fanzine’ as described by Stephen Duncombe, “publications devoted to discussing the intricacies and nuances of a cultural genre”[54], but will also show that the Weblogs under discussion affect the reader’s perception of the music press, and the media in general, rendering it more transparent, and comprehensible. The case studies will include background material on the Weblogs, including previous experience of fanzine writing on the part of the blogger. I will focus on the following key areas: the role of the Weblog for its audience; the content of the Weblog; its readership; and any editorial decisions made either by the blogger or by those around them relating to their Weblog.
I hypothesise that the reason these bloggers began to keep a Weblog was that they felt they needed an outlet for their writing that they were not getting elsewhere. Bloggers who are involved with the media (i.e. who work as journalists) will give their audience a different view of the press than traditional print media.They will improve the transparency of the press, and probably subvert the media through this.It seems likely, given the comparability of Weblogs and zines that the writers will have previously either written for or produced zines.The Weblogs with the strongest community around them will be the ones that provide the most opportunity for feedback (with comments and messageboards). While the tone of the music press is generally informal, I suggest that the tone of a music Weblog will be even more so. They are more likely to contain references to friends, and will probably be less directly critical of the music they cover. Weblogs will probably not be especially journalistic in terms of legality and ensuring that stories are true before reporting them.
I am satisfied that my methods will produce reliable results. The use of a semi-structured, face-to-face, interviewing technique should allow me to guide my interviewees enough while ensuring that they feel they have space to answer the questions in the way that they wish to. It may, however, be harder to make sure that they are all in relatively similar environments, which may affect their answers. If I am unable to meet any of my interviewees in person, I will have to resort to other methods, email and telephone, which will obviously affect their responses (and the extent to which I am able to guide them).
Of course, my respondents will not be representative of all bloggers, or even all non-news bloggers, but in examining their experience, I hope that I should find out some of what makes blogging so popular among music fans, as opposed to – for instance – sports fans, who are surprisingly underrepresented in the Blogosphere.
As long as the respondents are willing to take the time to talk to me, I feel that this study will be useful, and should contribute something unique to current academic discussion of the Weblog phenomenon, as well as documenting the evolution of fanzines since Duncombe’s text, which, whilst invaluable, requires some supplement dealing with developments deriving from the internet.
[48] http://www.perseus.com/blogsurvey/thebloggingiceberg.html
[49] http://www.dijest.com/bc
[50] http://www.perseus.com/blogsurvey/
[51]http://blogdex.media.mit.edu
[52] http://www.daypop.com/top/
[53] http://www.google.com
[54] Duncombe 1997, 9
question. It will be divided into categories of research. I will examine the questions of how qualitative and quantitative research are appropriate for this project, and the most fitting ways to conduct this research. In addition there will be an analysis of the likely reliability of my research.
Introduction
This research will be examining three Weblogs that cover the topic of contemporary music: Plan B, Popjustice and No Rock and Roll Fun.Although the sites they appear on may also contain feature-style articles, or even other bloggers, I will be focusing my research on the Weblogs, as I feel these are the most interesting elements.
Qualitative Research
The qualitative research for this project will involve interviews with the three blogger/editors. Ideally these would be face-to-face semi-structured interviews, but constraints of time and distance will obviously affect this, and it may become necessary to carry out interviews over the telephone or by email. In order to reduce the likelihood of this, I will be focussing my research on the UK media and Weblogging community. In addition I hope this will partly redress the current imbalance in existing research on UK Weblogs, as most of the previous academic studies that have taken place have done so in America. For the same reason, I will be looking at non-news blogging, which seems to make up the majority of the Blogosphere, but which has not previously been examined academically. I have decided to focus on music based Weblogs, as music journalists have been among the most enthusiastic and numerous in their adoption of the new medium, in this country. I believe this to be because of the existing culture in the music press, where many journalists have previously run fanzines.
The questions I intend to ask will deal with why they have chosen to use blogging in order to express their opinions on the web. This will particularly apply to the editors of Plan B and Popjustice, which both have blogs and feature-style elements on their sites. I will also ask whether the editors consider what they write on their Weblogs to be journalism, and whether they feel that their Weblogs are subversive in their portrayal of the media.
I had initially wanted to conduct online questionnaires for both bloggers and blog-readers, but decided that it would be difficult to obtain access to these people and therefore to find a random selection. Allowing respondents to self-select would certainly negate the research. I am, therefore, focusing on the recipients of feedback, rather than the people who have left
it.
I am disappointed that I could not include any female bloggers in this dissertation. The male domination of the music press necessitated my focusing on males. According to the Perseus survey, slightly more than half of bloggers are female [48]In this sense, therefore, my research will not be representative of the Blogosphere as a whole. This is frustrating, but cannot be helped.
I had also intended to interview a larger number of journalists and bloggers, but constraints of time meant that this was impossible. This will affect the reliability of my study, in that it would be useful to have a larger number of respondents. I believe, however, that by focusing on a niche audience, music zine/blogs, that I will be able to have interviewed a large proportion of those undertaking it. And I hope that I will certainly have interviewed the most popular and successful of the music bloggers. I may, however, interview other music journalist/bloggers, in order to
gain more understanding as to why music journalists are particularly keen to become bloggers.
Quantative Research
Existing quantative research will be invaluable for this project: up-to-date statistics on weblogging are readily available online. For statistics on, for instance, the number of blogs in existence, I will probably use pre-collected data, which is readily available from blog count[49], and the Perseus blog survey[50], undertaken
in the last quarter of 2003.
It may be interesting to look at the perceived reliability of the Weblogs under examination. One of the best ways to do this is by looking at how many other Weblogs or sites have linked back to the original, since the Web is a linkocracy. This refers to the stratification of Weblogs based on the number of inbound links to each site: the more citations, the more reliable the site is perceived to be, particularly if the links come from well-respected sites themselves. Fortunately, there are existing websites that analyse data to discover this, such as Blogdex[51] or Daypop[52]. It is also possible to do this using Google’s[53] search engine
Analysis
Quotes from both interviews and the Weblogs themselves will be used to explain the relationship between a blogger and his Weblog. Findings will be presented as case studies, examining each Weblog in turn and then comparing the three afterwards. It will be easier to fully analyse each Weblog like this, and therefore to ensure that the comparisons are more direct. In addition to the case studies, there will be a discussion of the place of these Weblogs within the traditional media. I will look at citations from major media sources to each Weblog. In the cases of Everett True and Peter Robinson, who both write in the traditional media, it would be useful to see if anything from their Weblog has appeared elsewhere – whether they are likely to recycle blog material for their professional writing.
I expect the analysis will demonstrate that these Weblogs will fit the category of ‘fanzine’ as described by Stephen Duncombe, “publications devoted to discussing the intricacies and nuances of a cultural genre”[54], but will also show that the Weblogs under discussion affect the reader’s perception of the music press, and the media in general, rendering it more transparent, and comprehensible. The case studies will include background material on the Weblogs, including previous experience of fanzine writing on the part of the blogger. I will focus on the following key areas: the role of the Weblog for its audience; the content of the Weblog; its readership; and any editorial decisions made either by the blogger or by those around them relating to their Weblog.
Hypotheses
I hypothesise that the reason these bloggers began to keep a Weblog was that they felt they needed an outlet for their writing that they were not getting elsewhere. Bloggers who are involved with the media (i.e. who work as journalists) will give their audience a different view of the press than traditional print media.They will improve the transparency of the press, and probably subvert the media through this.It seems likely, given the comparability of Weblogs and zines that the writers will have previously either written for or produced zines.The Weblogs with the strongest community around them will be the ones that provide the most opportunity for feedback (with comments and messageboards). While the tone of the music press is generally informal, I suggest that the tone of a music Weblog will be even more so. They are more likely to contain references to friends, and will probably be less directly critical of the music they cover. Weblogs will probably not be especially journalistic in terms of legality and ensuring that stories are true before reporting them.
Reliability and Validity
I am satisfied that my methods will produce reliable results. The use of a semi-structured, face-to-face, interviewing technique should allow me to guide my interviewees enough while ensuring that they feel they have space to answer the questions in the way that they wish to. It may, however, be harder to make sure that they are all in relatively similar environments, which may affect their answers. If I am unable to meet any of my interviewees in person, I will have to resort to other methods, email and telephone, which will obviously affect their responses (and the extent to which I am able to guide them).
Of course, my respondents will not be representative of all bloggers, or even all non-news bloggers, but in examining their experience, I hope that I should find out some of what makes blogging so popular among music fans, as opposed to – for instance – sports fans, who are surprisingly underrepresented in the Blogosphere.
As long as the respondents are willing to take the time to talk to me, I feel that this study will be useful, and should contribute something unique to current academic discussion of the Weblog phenomenon, as well as documenting the evolution of fanzines since Duncombe’s text, which, whilst invaluable, requires some supplement dealing with developments deriving from the internet.
[48] http://www.perseus.com/blogsurvey/thebloggingiceberg.html
[49] http://www.dijest.com/bc
[50] http://www.perseus.com/blogsurvey/
[51]http://blogdex.media.mit.edu
[52] http://www.daypop.com/top/
[53] http://www.google.com
[54] Duncombe 1997, 9
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