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Investigating Internet Relationships
Abstract
The focus on Internet relationships has escalated in recent times, with researchers investigating such areas as the development of online relationships (e.g., McCown, Fischer, Page, & Homant, 2001; Parks & Roberts, 1998; Whitty & Gavin, 2001), the formation of friends online (Parks & Floyd, 1996), representation (Bargh, McKenna, & Fitzsimons 2002), and misrepresentation of self online (Whitty, 2002). Researchers have also attempted to identify those addicted to accessing online sexual material (Cooper, Putnam, Planchon, & Boies, 1999). Moreover, others have been interested in Internet infidelity (Whitty, 2003a, 2005) and cybersex addiction (Griffiths, 2001, Young, Griffin-Shelley, Cooper, O’Mara, & Buchanan, 2000). Notwithstanding this continued growth of research in this field, few researchers have considered the new ethical implications of studying this topic area. While it is acknowledged here that some of the discussions in this article might be equally applied to the study of other Internet texts, such as religious or racial opinions, the focus in this article is on the concomitant ethical concerns of ongoing research into Internet relationships. Given that the development and maintenance of online relationships can be perceived as private and very personal (possibly more personal than other sensitive areas), there are potential ethical concerns that are unique to the study of such a topic area (Whitty, 2004; Whitty & Carr, 2006). For a broader discussion of virtual research ethics in general, refer to Ess and Jones (2004) and Whitty and Carr (2006).
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