New technologies are breaking the boundaries of how social researchers practice their craft, and it has become clear these changes are dramatically altering research design from the way data is collected to what is considered data. Bringing together all the emerging social science research technologies in one place, The Handbook of Emergent Technologies in Social Research offers comprehensive and up-to-date thinking on emerging technologies and addresses their impact on research methods, and in turn how new technologies lead to new research questions and areas of inquiry. The Handbook is organized into five sections, covering internet technologies, emergent data-collection methods, audio/visual, mobile, and geospatial technologies, and technology's impact on studying social life in natural settings, all after taking a look at emergent technologies from a broad, social-research context. Many of the twenty-nine chapters provide a commentary on and summary of specific technologies, like global surveys on the internet, mobile phones, data mining, and remote sensing, with a central focus on the most effective ways to use them. Others discuss the ethical and moral implications, especially issues of privacy and confidentiality, and collaborations across disciplines and outside the academy. The Handbook of Emergent Technologies in Social Research is indispensable for any social researcher looking to incorporate emerging technologies into their methods and practice.

Table of Contents:
Introduction 1. Emergent Technologies in Social Research: Pushing against the boundaries of research praxis Sharlene Nagy Hesse-Biber Part I. Emergent Technologies in a Broad Social Research Context 2. Possible Dreams: Research Technologies and Transformation of the Human Sciences Edward J. Hackett 3. To Tell the Truth: The Internet and Emergent Epistemological Challenges in Social Research David J. Gunkel 4. Methodological Challenges Posed by Emergent Nanotechnologies and Cultural Values Barbara Herr Harthorn 5. Under my Skin: The Ethics of Ambient Computing for Personal Health Monitoring Göran Collste 6. Ubiquitous Connectivity: User-generated data and the role of the researcher Mariann Hardey Part II. The Rise of Internet Technologies and Social Research Practice 7. Clickable data: Hypermedia and social research Bella Dicks and Bruce Mason 8. Digital Ethnography and Emergent Technologies Dhiraj Murthy 9. New Fieldsites, New Methods: New Ethnographic Opportunities Laura Robinson and Jeremy Schulz 10. Online Focus Groups David L. Morgan and Bojana Lobe 11. Digital Repositories, Folksonomies and Interdisciplinary Research: New social epistemology tools Karim Gherab-Martin Part III. Emergent Data Collection Methods: New forms of data production 12. Studying Mailing Lists: Text, temporality, interaction and materiality at the intersection of email and the web Anne Beaulieu and Mette Terp Høybye 13. On-line Data Collection and Data Analysis using Emergent Technologies Michael Dal 14. Collaborative Research Tools: Using wikis and team learning systems to collectively create new knowledge Robert Fitzgerald and John Findlay 15. Using Emerging Technologies in Focus Group Interviews Kathryn Moyle 16. Toward Experimental Methods in Collaborative Computing Research Gregorio Convertino and John M. Carroll 17. Emergent Technologies for Assessing Social Feelings and Experiences Albertine Visser and Ingrid Mulder 18. Data Mining and Research: Applied Mathematics Reborn Bert Little 19. Knowledge Mining and Managing: Emergent Tools and Technologies in Web-Based Intelligent Learning Environments Nittaya Kerdprasop Part IV. Audio-Visual, Mobile, and Geospatial Technologies' Impact on the Social Research Process 20. The Use of Audio-Visuals in Surveys Tom W. Smith and John Sokolowski 21. The Use of Mixed Methods Thinking in Documentary Development John W. Creswell and Bernard Rogers McCoy 22. A New Way of Seeing and Being Seen: Digital Storytelling as an Emergent Method for Social Research and Practice Aline Gubrium and K-C Nat Turner 23. Mobile Phones as Sensors for Social Research Nathan Eagle 24. Fragments of Freedom: Making sense of implicit data sets Geert de Haan, Sunil Choenni, Ingrid Mulder, Sandra Kalidien, and Peter van Waart 25. Using Technology and the Experience Sampling Method to Understand Real Life Anne Kellock, Rebecca Lawthom, Judith Sixsmith, Karen Duggan, Ilana Mountian, John T. Haworth, Carolyn Kagan, David P. Brown, John E. Griffiths, Jenny Hawkins, Claire Worley, Christina Purcell, and Asiya Siddiquee 26. The Application of Spatial Analysis Technology in Social Science Research: Tools and Techniques Steven J. Steinberg and Sheila Lakshmi Steinberg 27. Methods, Examples and Pitfalls in the Exploitation of the Geospatial Web Ross S. Purves Part V. The Impact of New Technologies for Studying Social Life in Naturalistic Settings 28. Living Laboratories: Social Research Applications and Evaluation Chris Fowler, Lindsay O'Neill, and Joy van Helvert 29. The Digital Home: A New Locus of Social Science Research Anne Holohan, Jeanette Chin, Vic Callaghan, and Peter Muhlau