A new guide for a new generation of social science researchers
Eszter Hargittai has been intrigued by the behind-the-scenes realities of social science research methods ever since her college days when she embarked on several independent research projects advised by her mentors. In graduate school, she realized that it was too uncommon for people to be honest and up front about the methods they used in their studies and decided that she wanted to do something about it. That is when the seeds of the Research Confidential book were planted in her mind. While a faculty member at Northwestern University, she decided to invite several accomplished young scholars working on innovative projects in a rigorous manner to contribute to a volume that spoke with unusual candor about how empirical social science actually gets done. Research Confidential is a collection of the resulting essays. Feedback from graduate students and others suggests that they very much appreciate this refreshing look at how to do scholarly work.
Hargittai has been studying the social and policy implications of the Internet since the mid 1990s. Her senior thesis at Smith College looked at the unequal international spread of the Internet while her PhD work at Princeton University examined skill differences in Americans' Internet uses. She uses whatever methods are best suited to answer her research questions of interest. Her methods have included surveys, in-person observations and interviews, focus group sessions and social network analysis. She enjoys teaching courses on the process of conducting research.
Today, she works as an Associate Professor in Northwestern University's Communication Studies Department where she heads the Web Use Project. Every year, she works with a team of undergraduate and graduate students to investigate how people are incorporating the Internet into their everyday lives.
Hargittai is also author of the career advice column Ph.Do at Inside Higher Ed.
When she is not doing research, she can often be found out on the trails geocaching with friends.
