November 16 - Methodology

1) Site--Where did you conduct your research? Why?
All research was conducted by investigating the subreddit MensRights (MR), and finding specific users to look at their post history in participation of any other subreddit. Since users can post wherever they want, and it being a site where users rarely keep to just on subreddit, other posts would further the understanding of the user's nature and behavior on the site as a whole.

2) Participants--Who did you study in your project? Why?
I kept my eye partially fixated on the moderators, like kloo2yoo (who is also the creator of MR), AnnArchist, and ignatiousloyola. However, because of the nature of posting (as well as the system of up/downvoting), I would simply pick posters who were more involved or vehement in their opinions. This is something that changes daily, if not hourly, based on the popularity of certain discussion threads. Typically, as is the fashion with the design of Reddit, the more popular a topic is, the more likely it is controversial/a hot topic/otherwise engaging. 


3) Self--What role did you play in your site?
I initially wanted to participate under a pseudonym so as to not link my real account to the discussion, but I realized that I might, purposely or not, affect the conversation to gain results that would corroborate my assumptions of the participants. Instead, I lurked and just read conversations (and restrained myself from responding, which took a considerable amount of willpower at times).

4) Data--What kinds of data did you collect? How did you collect it?
The best types of data collection would be screen captures of conversations, which allow for unadulterated chunks of discussion to be shared.

5) Analysis--How did you analyze your data?
One of the major issues I was looking for (again, based on my understanding of how Reddit works) was how outsiders were treated and voted. Not surprisingly, participants who did not align with the great majority of MR were downvoted into oblivion, talked down to, or a combination of both. I analyzed the interaction between MR members and those not indoctrinated within the MR movement (at least in the context of Reddit).

6) Tradition(s)--What major research tradition(s) did you draw upon to conduct your study?

I'm leaving this open for future editing..