Class Projects

Similar to other term papers you have done, the class project involves research and analysis on a particular topic. However, the form of the project is different than a traditional term paper in that you will submit it as a web site (i.e., a hypertext document).

I want to give you a great deal of flexibility in choosing your topic. In general, class projects in the past have taken one of these forms, which represent different ways of cutting through the subject matter:

• Organize the project around a particular issue that interests you (e.g., identity and anonymity, social control in online groups, 2D graphical worlds, etc.). The point here would be to examine a particular subject area in depth. The content would more closely resemble a typical term paper in that you would review the research that had been done on the subject, discuss its strengths and limitations, and provide examples from various online groups that illustrated the details and dynamics of the issue.

• Organize the project around a particular online community that interests you (e.g., a Usenet newsgroup, online market, multiplayer online world, etc.). Here the emphasis would be on an in-depth analysis of the community rather than a detailed analysis of one particular topic. The content for this project would resemble a field work assignment or ethnography.

• It is almost always a good idea to pick at least one other community to serve as a contrast. You can examine one community in great depth and do a secondary analysis of another community, or you could give both communities equal weight. The point is that you can learn a great deal from the contrast and it provides a natural way of organizing the paper. You could, for example contrast a synchronous with an asynchronous group that deal with similar subjects, or you could contrast a successful group versus an unsuccessful group to tease out what might account for the difference.

• Organize the project around the design of a web site for an online group. The challenge here would be to take the lessons we have learned and apply them to the design of an actual online community (e.g., an online community for a particular professional group, interest group, geographical community, etc.). You are not expected to actually build the site, but the design does have to be worked out. An important part of this project would be the discussion of how you made your design decisions and how those decisions are related to the readings we’ve done as well as your own research. This is a very ambitious project and you should not pursue this without first talking with me!

• There is an alternative version of this that combines aspects of the last two types of projects: You could examine an existing online community, analyze its strengths and weaknesses, and then detail how you would restructure the online community to make it more successful.

I would be happy to look at outlines or drafts of your web site as you refine your ideas. Regardless of the kind of project you do, it’s very important that you tie in your observations and analyses into the readings that we’ve done and into additional references that you find. In other words, this is a scholarly project with all the usual requirements of providing references and citations.

In order to produce your project, you will need some kind of web publishing software. If you have never put together a web page, you need to be sure to budget time to learn these skills! The easiest way to build your website is using current word processors such as Microsoft Word 2000 or Word XP, which allow you to save documents as hypertext and work with links, images, etc.

You also need a place to host your website. Bruin Online allows anyone with a BOL account to upload files to a directory in order to host a website. You can find out more information at their website. (Be careful of using other services that offer free web hosting, such as Geocities – they often impose limits on bandwidth that can make it very difficult to view websites with lots of graphics.)

I certainly do not expect professional level web sites – this is a sociology class, not a web design class. Thus, I will evaluate the project primarily on the basis of the content. At the same time, it is very important that the web site be put together in a clear and useful way and that you take advantage of the fact that you are presenting your work as an online hypertext document.

The project is due by Friday of finals week (December 12). By the end of that day, you need to email me the URL of your website. Please leave your websites up for at least a couple of months.