Abstract
This book offers a collection of essays with first-hand insight into the application of a range of methods for the study of digital media from the perspective of social science. The editor explains that ‘its aim is to offer researchers realistic examples (with solutions!) of how empirical social science gets done in the twenty-first century’ (p. 1). Although there are a good number of books on research methods in the social sciences, the contribution this volume makes is to present researchers’ reflections on ‘the behind-the-scenes realities of their experiences, sharing details that are rarely included in the methods sections of project write-ups even though they are essential for understanding how research actually gets done’ (p. 2). The authors cover a range of methods – data scraping, ethnographic observations, interviews, focus groups, surveys, ecological momentary assessment and mixed methods. The book is split into Introduction and 12 substantive chapters. The authors offer their experience of dealing with issues many researchers are likely to face nowadays such as tracking down social media data that have disappeared, finding social bots on Twitter, using social media to recruit sexual and gender minority youth, ways of conducting ethnographic research online and using a multimodal approach with the aim of learning about independent artists’ social media use. The volume would most definitely be of interest to media students and researchers.