It is true as Parker mentioned earlier that I am writing a thesis about political blogging (thanks for the nice words Parker). I have done research for six months now and just started on the writing process this week. The thing is, I want this thesis to be a collaboration and not just my own work. I therefore want help to shape the design of the study and to point out the direction it needs to take.
I will therefore briefly present the research problem of the study and the direction I am going in so far:
Research problem: Can communication via blogs influence political campaigns and impact the outcome of an election?
This is what I want to discuss: How can we measure the impact of blogs on political campaigns and the outcome of an election?
This is how I want to approach the research problem: By comparing studies examining blog activity in American and European election campaigns from 2004 to 2007, the papers seek to locate different aspects of blogging that can be argued to impact an election campaign. However, since the landscape of online communication is a rapidly changing one, and research on the topic is limited, it will be necessary to seek information beyond academic sources. The reflections and thoughts of leading bloggers (and online experts) on their role in the direction of a campaign will supplement the data that already exist on the topic and hopefully bring to light new dimensions not yet considered.
Findings in existing studies will be criticised and compared to the theoretical views of the subjects being studied. By locating opinions and statements represented by bloggers and online communication experts the paper will point out errors and limitations of existing studies and further present new ideas about how we can measure impact of political blogs.
So, I am very interested in hearing different opinions about the study’s approach to the subject: Is this an interesting approach? And any suggestions to how we can measure the impact of blogs is welcomed.
Thanks for taking an interest in my work.