CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.5 Research Data Analysis
3.5.1 Using Shultz’s Index of Feedback Options
Following Shultz’s (1999) arguments on the analysis of interactive devices in an exploratory content analysis of 100 U.S. online newspapers, the index of feedback options developed thereafter was adopted in this study. Shultz’s (1999) index of analysis also informed the content analysis stage of this study. The index of analysis assigns values to the interactive devices according to their sophistication and significance for interactive communication as shown in Table 3.1:
Table 3.1: Index of Feedback Options and the Allotted Points (Shultz 1999)
Index of Feedback Options Points
General e-mail address(es) to contact newsroom 1 pt
List of at least some editors’/writers’ e-mail (limited) or:
List of editors’/writers’ e-mail addresses (general pattern)
1 pt
2 pts E-mail links to at least some articles’ authors (limited)
or:
E-mail links to articles’ authors (general pattern)
1 pt
2 pts
E-mail links to politicians/officials 1 pt
Discussion forum(s) or:
Discussion forum(s) obviously hosted/journalists participate
2 pts 3 pts
Chat room(s) provided or:
Chat room(s) obviously hosted/journalists participate
1 pt
3 pts
Quick poll/user survey or
Sophisticated poll/survey (open questions/linked to forum/background info)
1 pt
3 pts
Letters to the editor displayed online 1 pt
MAXIMUM (MINIMUM)
16pts 0pt
According to Shultz (1999), the assumptions informing the construction of this index of analysis were based on logical principles. The number of points per interactive option was assigned based on the theoretical view of its embedded potential to afford interactivity; for instance, it was appropriate to weight discussion forums more heavily than simple quick polls, which are not embedded in any further discursive effort. While quick polls create reactive communication, discussion forums go beyond this to afford users an opportunity to ponder on issues and give their own views of them. Some interactive options, for example polls, limit users to operate merely on a reactive level. Based on this criterion, the index offers a scale that ranges from a maximum of 16 to a minimum of 0 points for each web site. Applying this index, therefore, entails that a newspaper website will score highly only if it offers different and sophisticated feedback options, which encourage interactive
communication.
The investigation was done over a two week period just before the March 2008 Zimbabwean elections. The time frame was selected specifically because it was the height of the combined parliamentary, senatorial and presidential election campaigns. From the selected news sites, interactive devices were reviewed and analysed within the context of the characteristics drawn from cyber-democratic theory following Rosenberry (2005):
Putting institutional authority behind citizen voices, as indicated by the presence of blogs, e-mail posting and submission of letters to the editor and online polls
Creating places for citizen interaction on public affairs issues, operationalized by threaded and non-threaded message boards about public affairs, links to discussion sites and chats with other citizens
Creating places for citizen interaction with officials, operationalized by email links to candidates, officials and institutions and chats with officials
Combining institutional and citizen voices, operationalized by citizen input (e.g.
from message boards and blogs) used in stories, and/or editorials and the opportunity to “talk back” on a story, editorial or letter to the editor
Using interactive devices to present public affairs information serving the surveillance function, operationalized by interactive storytelling, selections and links (other than e-mail) to sites such as government sites with general information or voting information as well as election-related material, including candidates’
personal/campaign sites and third-party information/advocacy sites.
Using the Three–Way Model to Analyse Interactive Options
The internet can provide users with a mechanism for intelligent discussions enabled by
interactive devices that inform the participants on political choices through public deliberations (Ferber, Foltz and Pugliese, 2007). To clarify the vagueness surrounding the promises of interactivity to promote cyber democracy, Ferber, Foltz and Pugliese (2007) used the three-way model to analyse interactive options and attach some numeric value to the various interactive devises in relation to their roles in cyber democracy. Table 3.2 indicates the interactive devices with their corresponding values:
Table 3.2: Analysis of Interactive Features
Feature Direction
Receiver Control Active e-mail to legislators and/or contact forms 1-way high Active e-mail and/or contact forms to webmaster 1-way high
Site search engine 2-way low
Interactive aids to navigation (online help) 2-way high
Interactive educational material 2-way low
Personalized site layouts 2-way low
Online polling 3-way low
Public forums 3-way high
Source : Ferber, Foltz and Pugliese’s (2007) analysis of interactive features.
* 1-way is simply feedback while, 2-way communication occurs when a receiver gets a response. 3-way communication is multilateral message flow.
In this study the three-way communication model will be used to analyse the contributions of the interactive devices to promoting cyber democracy. The model provides guidelines for analysis that attach value to each interactive option in terms of how much interactivity is enshrined in that particular device that can empower users. The model also provides a rating scale for examining how much control the user is empowered with when each interactive device is made available on a website.