Data, Methods, and Ethics

          My research will be utilizing two methods of data collection: archival and auto ethnography. Archival data collection is appropriate for my research because it gives me an idea of why people put up with advertisements on YouTube and whether or not they are still happy with the product that they are viewing. I collected this data by randomly searching through videos and looking at the comments that were made about the videos. I think that this form of data collection properly answers my research question because it helps to answer wether or not people are willing to put up with advertising to watch videos on YouTube. I classified the comments into three categories: positive, negative, or neutral. I collected this material by looking at the most recent comments made on each of the videos. For retrieving this material, I spent 2 hours searching through YouTube and collecting data. During that time I looked at a total of 30 videos and conduct an analysis of the videos. Along with the comments made by these people, I documented how many advertisements were on each web page. The data collection for this part of the research was conducted on March 16^th. The criteria that I considered for inclusion into my data was whether or not the person expressed a positive, negative, or neutral tone in their comments on the page. I also decided to exclude any comments that neglected to express any feelings towards the video or YouTube. For example, I decided to not include arguments between people who were commenting on the videos because the data had nothing to do with the video or YouTube. This data collection observes all ethical concerns by not including any of the names of the people who commented on the videos. I removed the date that the comments were made for all of my data because I felt that it might be a way in which someone's anonymity might be compromised. I decided to do this because it respects the individual’s comments. Signed consent forms for this type of data collection was not plausible because it would be impossible to get ahold of everyone who commented on the videos. For the comments that I will be including in my analysis, I will be using pseudonyms so that I could protect their anonymity. Through the archival research I will be able to add a more comprehensive analysis of the feelings people have towards the cost of advertising on YouTube.

          Through auto ethnography analysis I compared the cost of watching videos on the Internet and on television. I decided to supplement my archival analysis with auto ethnography analysis because it provides me with a way of contrasting the cost of watching videos on television to watching videos on YouTube. I collected this data by conducting through a two-part experiment. First, I watched an hour of television in which I recorded how much of the time I spent watching commercials. Second, I spent an hour watching videos on YouTube and I recorded how many times I had to watch advertisements between videos. This data collection included how much time I actually spent watching the commercials. I decided to include this information into my research because I wanted to determine if I paid more attention to commercials on the Internet or on television. Since this data collection did not involve anyone else, I did not have to worry about ethical concerns.