Table of Contents

Order at All Points
Counting and Accounting
Starting the Inquiry
`But What Happened Then?′
Defining the Inquiry
`Then How Do You Know?′
Methods of Inquiry
`It Is a Capital Mistake to Theorize before One Has Data!′
`Data! Data! Data!′
Analyzing Data from the Inquiry
Finding Answers from the Inquiry
`Elementary, My Dear Watson!′
Summarizing and Presenting Results
`Quite So!′

About the Author

Mark Balnaves is Professor and Senior Research Fellow in New Media at Curtin University.  He is located with the Department of Internet Studies within the School of Media, Culture and Creative Arts.  His Fellowship focuses on the role of new media, especially social networking tools, in enhancing the link between citizens and governments.

Professor Balnaves conducted for Telstra Multimedia Australia’s first major adoption and diffusion study of broadband possibilities in Gungahlin, ACT (at a time when the phrases ′narrowband′ and ′broadband′ were not in the popular lexicon).  This study contributed to the formation of Telstra’s Bigpond.  The studies also contributed to the established of ACTEW’s TransACT, Canberra’s broadband provider. His current work at Curtin University is on e-governance and the role of new media in enhancing the link between citizens and government.  His publications are in audience research, theories of media and the role of the Internet in the public sphere. Position:

    Associate Professor

Research Interests:

    Quantitative Psychology
    Psychometrics
    Psychological factors determining adoption of new technology
    Personal construct psychology - theory and measurement