Last week after submitting the proposal, I was finally able to concentrate on identifying the method of data collection. It is really a challenge. If we are looking at blogs in general, there is no really complete category of the blogs. Another issue the abandonment rate of the blogs is high, people start a blog and then don't have time to maintain it, so it is not really an active blog any more...
If we look just at financial blogs, Technocrati has a directory of business, financial and economy blogs. So I thought it was a good place to start. But at the same time, I have to be aware that not all financial blogs are indexed by technocrati, I may assume that probably the most popular ones probably are.
So, what I decided to do is still use the Technocrati directory of financial blogs and choose five of the blogs that have the highest authority.
The authority is defined as the amount of other blogs linked to your own blog. So it is kind of makes sense if your blog is popular you will probably have a lot of links from other blogs. This is the way how bloggers demonstrate the popularity, that the blog has a readership.
Thinking about some presence of random sample, I decided to choose blog posts published during 4 weeks randomly selected. So in this way the data is not skewed by any of the media or governemnt discussions of certain economy topics. Although it would be interesting to see if the bloggers discussed the same topics as media did, i.e. function as "echo chamber" to the mainstream media. But to do this kind of study I had to analyze media coverage as well.
My first plunge in the financial blogs really amazed me. I was impressed by several things: some highly popular blogs had Google search function on their website, I was able to search their archive using Google. That really enhanced my user experience with a blog !!!! The majority of the blogs tend to provide their email and talk abou thier occupation. So bloggers are very open to the feedback and do not try to hide behind the nicknames, ofcourse it does not apply to all blogs, just a few I looked at.
In terms of the topics the bloggers discussed I am sure that I will learn about economy, personal finances, etc by reading those blogs. Maybe I will even follow one of them very closely. So in all respects, it is a very educational study!!!
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Research proposal
I tried to focus the research as much as I could, to make it more clear and easy to understand. This is my final version of the proposal:
Financial blogging is becoming a popular activity in the 2008. Several signs could demonstrate the increasing popularity of financial blogging. Karyn McCormack (2008) argues that recent events in the financial market have been “great fodder for the growing community of financial bloggers” (p.3). Blogpulse, a service of Nielsen BuzzMetrics found 178,435 messages on economic crisis; 217,705 messages on financial crisis; and 784,375 messages on economy over the period from June, 2008, through November, 2008. A search for financial blogs on Technocrati produced 17,686 blogs (November, 2008). McCormack (2008) points that over the last few years some financial blogs have become popular and widely-read enough to make money using such tools as Google’s AdSense. Media organizations also followed this trend by starting financial blogs that cover the financial markets, deals and the economy, for example, Herb Greenberg's MarketBlog and The New York Times' DealBook (2008).
In the light of the recent Pew Research, which documented that often the press coverage of the economy state has lagged behind economic events, sometimes by months, the question posed by McCormack (2008) “where can you find the smartest, savviest takes on the markets and the economy?” becomes very relevant. The media coverage of economy right before the September 14, 2008, filled only 4.8% of the media newshole (The Lull before the storm). Financial crisis coverage during September 15 October 26, 2008, varied across different media (The meltdown and the media). From August 15 to September 14, 2008, coverage of the economy—which includes themes such as gas prices, banking industry trouble fills, the housing crisis, and retail sales—filled 4.8% of the media newshole. This is only about half the coverage (9.3%) the economy generated from January 15, 2008, through August 14, 2008.
One of the available resources of information on economy and finance matters could be financial bloggers. Russel Bailyn, the author of “Navigating the Financial Blogosphere: How to Benefit from Free Information on the Internet,” pointed out that he started a financial blog as “a forum for discussing commonly asked financial questions,” so it enhances “understanding of this field and improves your performance within it.” Bailyn believes that it is the main reason why it has become a “widely syndicated resource for both ordinary investors and industry professionals.”
The review of the prior research on blogs and blogging revealed that there is little studies on what topics do financial bloggers discuss on their blogs. This category of blogs is a growing area of blogosphere. A search for finance blogs on Technocrati produced 17,686 blogs. Technocrati has a separate blog category: business, which includes business finance, economy, investing, personal finance, real estate, and stocks and bonds, and entrepreneurs.
In the current paper the researcher will look at what are the most popular topics discussed by financial bloggers.
Professional literature on financial blogs
McCormack (2008) believes that financial blogs could be become the place where the most intelligent insights and opinions on the markets can be found. In addition to the mainstream financial media and advisors, investors’ blogs could be a reliable source of information on stocks, since the blogs are updated several times a day with analysis of firms like AOL's BloggingStocks (McCormack, 2008). Investor blogs are a source of both financial news and stock analysis. Such blog as 10Q Detective by David Phillips, a former equity analyst, provides trade alerts as well as the analysis of companies' SEC filings. There are blogs that are devoted to economy in general, such as Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis. According to McCormack (2008), financial blogs could be a way to “gather intelligence to become a better informed investor.”
As McCormack (2008) points out some financial blogs have gathered a big enough audience to generate advertising money using such tools as Google AdSense. There are different motivations behind starting a financial blog. Hogan (2007) describes how one of the bloggers, full-time independent investor, uses his blog to collect his thoughts. Moran (2007) points out that financial advisors use their blogs to share their views on investing and finance management. By being present on the web, the advisors create a cumulative effect on clients’ ability to find them (Moran, 2007).
Leland (2007) points out that there is a category of financial blogs maintained by ordinary people who decided to launch a blog to provide details of their financial life. Dozens of blogs have appeared on the web taking an advantage of online anonymity to talk about fiscal details that they will never share with their closest friends or family members. Some of the bloggers point out that blogging exposure imposes discipline to reduce their debt. According to Leland (2007) blogs reveal the everyday finances of American households during the time of financial uncertainty. People start blogs on personal finances as a way to communicate about those issues and as a way to increase their own awareness of their everyday spending.
Some of the nation’s leading academic economists, such as Paul Krugman, Nouriel Roubini, and Tyler Cowen, along with financial-industry insiders, participated in public, on blogs, discussion of different ways to cope with the financial crisis (Mihm, 2008). As the economic crisis developed financial bloggers provided their analysis and critique as well as various suggestions on how to address the crisis. Mihm (2008) argues that although, it is still not clear how big is the impact of financial blogosphere on Washington’s response to the financial crisis, there is an evidence that every step taken by policy makers are analyzed and critiqued by highly informed economic blogosphere (Mihm, 2008). According to the author, financial blogs provide a crash course on economics but in a much easier and comprehensible way. Mihm (2008) argues that bloggers helped to make the process of policy making more open by discussing publicly various matters ranging from recession to government bailout. There are bloggers who not only discuss economic issues, provide their opinions and suggestions, but also take a more activist role. Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis blog instructed its readers to write their senators and representatives (Mihm, 2008).
Methodology
For the current research, I will conduct content analysis of blog postings on financial blogs. The focus of the current content analysis is to identify, quantify and analyze the most common thematic patterns present in those blog postings. In this particular work I will conduct conceptual analyses, in which a concept (most common themes discussed by bloggers) will be selected, coded and counted. It will serve as a springboard for identifying the coding categories for the further more extensive analysis of financial blogs.
Sampling procedure
I will use Google search to identify five blogs, which are devoted to the discussion of the financial or economy matters. After selecting the blogs I will do a random sample of blog postings on those blogs. The availability of the archive on the blogs allows me to do random sample. The time period of postings which will be chosen for the study is one year, starting 2008, January through January 2009. I will compose a composite month by conducting random sample of blog postings.
RQ: What are the most common themes discussed by financial blogs?
Financial blogging is becoming a popular activity in the 2008. Several signs could demonstrate the increasing popularity of financial blogging. Karyn McCormack (2008) argues that recent events in the financial market have been “great fodder for the growing community of financial bloggers” (p.3). Blogpulse, a service of Nielsen BuzzMetrics found 178,435 messages on economic crisis; 217,705 messages on financial crisis; and 784,375 messages on economy over the period from June, 2008, through November, 2008. A search for financial blogs on Technocrati produced 17,686 blogs (November, 2008). McCormack (2008) points that over the last few years some financial blogs have become popular and widely-read enough to make money using such tools as Google’s AdSense. Media organizations also followed this trend by starting financial blogs that cover the financial markets, deals and the economy, for example, Herb Greenberg's MarketBlog and The New York Times' DealBook (2008).
In the light of the recent Pew Research, which documented that often the press coverage of the economy state has lagged behind economic events, sometimes by months, the question posed by McCormack (2008) “where can you find the smartest, savviest takes on the markets and the economy?” becomes very relevant. The media coverage of economy right before the September 14, 2008, filled only 4.8% of the media newshole (The Lull before the storm). Financial crisis coverage during September 15 October 26, 2008, varied across different media (The meltdown and the media). From August 15 to September 14, 2008, coverage of the economy—which includes themes such as gas prices, banking industry trouble fills, the housing crisis, and retail sales—filled 4.8% of the media newshole. This is only about half the coverage (9.3%) the economy generated from January 15, 2008, through August 14, 2008.
One of the available resources of information on economy and finance matters could be financial bloggers. Russel Bailyn, the author of “Navigating the Financial Blogosphere: How to Benefit from Free Information on the Internet,” pointed out that he started a financial blog as “a forum for discussing commonly asked financial questions,” so it enhances “understanding of this field and improves your performance within it.” Bailyn believes that it is the main reason why it has become a “widely syndicated resource for both ordinary investors and industry professionals.”
The review of the prior research on blogs and blogging revealed that there is little studies on what topics do financial bloggers discuss on their blogs. This category of blogs is a growing area of blogosphere. A search for finance blogs on Technocrati produced 17,686 blogs. Technocrati has a separate blog category: business, which includes business finance, economy, investing, personal finance, real estate, and stocks and bonds, and entrepreneurs.
In the current paper the researcher will look at what are the most popular topics discussed by financial bloggers.
Professional literature on financial blogs
McCormack (2008) believes that financial blogs could be become the place where the most intelligent insights and opinions on the markets can be found. In addition to the mainstream financial media and advisors, investors’ blogs could be a reliable source of information on stocks, since the blogs are updated several times a day with analysis of firms like AOL's BloggingStocks (McCormack, 2008). Investor blogs are a source of both financial news and stock analysis. Such blog as 10Q Detective by David Phillips, a former equity analyst, provides trade alerts as well as the analysis of companies' SEC filings. There are blogs that are devoted to economy in general, such as Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis. According to McCormack (2008), financial blogs could be a way to “gather intelligence to become a better informed investor.”
As McCormack (2008) points out some financial blogs have gathered a big enough audience to generate advertising money using such tools as Google AdSense. There are different motivations behind starting a financial blog. Hogan (2007) describes how one of the bloggers, full-time independent investor, uses his blog to collect his thoughts. Moran (2007) points out that financial advisors use their blogs to share their views on investing and finance management. By being present on the web, the advisors create a cumulative effect on clients’ ability to find them (Moran, 2007).
Leland (2007) points out that there is a category of financial blogs maintained by ordinary people who decided to launch a blog to provide details of their financial life. Dozens of blogs have appeared on the web taking an advantage of online anonymity to talk about fiscal details that they will never share with their closest friends or family members. Some of the bloggers point out that blogging exposure imposes discipline to reduce their debt. According to Leland (2007) blogs reveal the everyday finances of American households during the time of financial uncertainty. People start blogs on personal finances as a way to communicate about those issues and as a way to increase their own awareness of their everyday spending.
Some of the nation’s leading academic economists, such as Paul Krugman, Nouriel Roubini, and Tyler Cowen, along with financial-industry insiders, participated in public, on blogs, discussion of different ways to cope with the financial crisis (Mihm, 2008). As the economic crisis developed financial bloggers provided their analysis and critique as well as various suggestions on how to address the crisis. Mihm (2008) argues that although, it is still not clear how big is the impact of financial blogosphere on Washington’s response to the financial crisis, there is an evidence that every step taken by policy makers are analyzed and critiqued by highly informed economic blogosphere (Mihm, 2008). According to the author, financial blogs provide a crash course on economics but in a much easier and comprehensible way. Mihm (2008) argues that bloggers helped to make the process of policy making more open by discussing publicly various matters ranging from recession to government bailout. There are bloggers who not only discuss economic issues, provide their opinions and suggestions, but also take a more activist role. Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis blog instructed its readers to write their senators and representatives (Mihm, 2008).
Methodology
For the current research, I will conduct content analysis of blog postings on financial blogs. The focus of the current content analysis is to identify, quantify and analyze the most common thematic patterns present in those blog postings. In this particular work I will conduct conceptual analyses, in which a concept (most common themes discussed by bloggers) will be selected, coded and counted. It will serve as a springboard for identifying the coding categories for the further more extensive analysis of financial blogs.
Sampling procedure
I will use Google search to identify five blogs, which are devoted to the discussion of the financial or economy matters. After selecting the blogs I will do a random sample of blog postings on those blogs. The availability of the archive on the blogs allows me to do random sample. The time period of postings which will be chosen for the study is one year, starting 2008, January through January 2009. I will compose a composite month by conducting random sample of blog postings.
RQ: What are the most common themes discussed by financial blogs?
How I chose methodology for my research
This week I was trying to finalize the proposal for the study. I was reading some of the studies that Becky recommended me to: on content analysis, and discourse analysis. It was very useful for me to get better understanding of the method which I decided to use in my study. First, I realized that content analysis is not really such a good method to begin with ;) and that was kind of frustrating for me. Well, I knew before that content analysis is more about identifying, counting and then providing the analysis of what you found. Content analysis does not really provide any depth, you cannot see any kind of relationships between the patterns present in the text...:( Content analysis does not really look at the meaning side of the written communication, sometimes just scratching the surface. At the same time, content analysis is probably more objective, if a researcher cna actually be obejctive entirely, regardless of the method he is using.
So, I had to make a decision- which method shall I choose, shall I do discourse analysis rather than content analysis, or I still choose content analysis.
There are several things, which finally helped choose the method:
first, the main focus for this research is to identify the most common topics the financial bloggers discuss in their blogs.
One of the parts of my main research will be - most common topics discussed by financial bloggers. If we look at the literature, there are no studies that looked at the topics of the financial blogs. Basically, there is very little studies on financial blogs in general.
I was looking at how people idnetified the topics discussed by other blogs, for instance, library blogs. What they did - is a content analysis.
So, that made me thinking, that probably content analysis is the methodology which I should use to achieve the goal of my research. I decided not to use any of the computer software to identify the most common topics, I will be reading the posting myself.
Also for reliability I will have another coder to code at least 10 percent of the postings.
So, I had to make a decision- which method shall I choose, shall I do discourse analysis rather than content analysis, or I still choose content analysis.
There are several things, which finally helped choose the method:
first, the main focus for this research is to identify the most common topics the financial bloggers discuss in their blogs.
One of the parts of my main research will be - most common topics discussed by financial bloggers. If we look at the literature, there are no studies that looked at the topics of the financial blogs. Basically, there is very little studies on financial blogs in general.
I was looking at how people idnetified the topics discussed by other blogs, for instance, library blogs. What they did - is a content analysis.
So, that made me thinking, that probably content analysis is the methodology which I should use to achieve the goal of my research. I decided not to use any of the computer software to identify the most common topics, I will be reading the posting myself.
Also for reliability I will have another coder to code at least 10 percent of the postings.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
This week reading
I really enjoyed reading this week. I found most of it very istructional and easy to use, it almost can be used as a guide to do research. It starts with the beginning of the research process. I really liked the portion when the author provided the tips for the research. One of them is: never go into user research to prove a point, and never to create goals to seek to justify a position or reinforce a perspective." I found it to be very useful tip. When I started thinking about my own research, what i think happened to me right away was - I created categories, pre-determined categories. It looked ok for me, a person who is taught at a different department with quant perspective: you cannot even start a study without knowing exatctly what your categories are. I would be honed down by a professor if I suggest something like: I will come with the categories as I do the research.
So, being new to the field research- that was my first and major mistake. I was trying to start research to prove something what I already know. Now I understand - it does not really make sense to do this kind of research. Because what is the point in provign your own point and not in finding what other people really think.
Another thing which I really liked is the idea of user profile. If you have any bad experience with customs (who usually do customer profiling and it is a negative term). In fields research, it can be very helpful. You not only have all demographics, but also abilities, needs and desires of your ideal users. The best part, I guess, is actually creating a story or narrative about your ideal user. That really helps you visualize the user and maybe feel thier shoes, and hopefully understand the user better. I think this model can be applied to almost any product we create. Print products, for example, you create a borchure for an aircompany. For you as a designer it would be great to actually have a profile of your user, who is the customer, age, occupation, etc.
I am sure that when you have an image infront of you (in your thoughts) it really helps you concentrate better, and think more down to earth, i.e. in less abstract terms and ideas.
So, in general, I can see how we can use this in our own everyday work and careers.
So, being new to the field research- that was my first and major mistake. I was trying to start research to prove something what I already know. Now I understand - it does not really make sense to do this kind of research. Because what is the point in provign your own point and not in finding what other people really think.
Another thing which I really liked is the idea of user profile. If you have any bad experience with customs (who usually do customer profiling and it is a negative term). In fields research, it can be very helpful. You not only have all demographics, but also abilities, needs and desires of your ideal users. The best part, I guess, is actually creating a story or narrative about your ideal user. That really helps you visualize the user and maybe feel thier shoes, and hopefully understand the user better. I think this model can be applied to almost any product we create. Print products, for example, you create a borchure for an aircompany. For you as a designer it would be great to actually have a profile of your user, who is the customer, age, occupation, etc.
I am sure that when you have an image infront of you (in your thoughts) it really helps you concentrate better, and think more down to earth, i.e. in less abstract terms and ideas.
So, in general, I can see how we can use this in our own everyday work and careers.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
The research proposal
How do bloggers use financial blogs?
I. Rationale:
This research seeks to shed light on a small part of the financial blogging phenomenon by
asking the following question: how do financial bloggers use their blogs.
Financial blogging is becoming a popular activity in the recent year. Several signs could demonstrate the increasing popularity of financial blogging. Karyn McCormack (2008) argues that recent events in the financial market have been “great fodder for the growing community of financial bloggers.” Blogpulse, a service of Nielsen BuzzMetrics found 178,435 messages on economic crisis; 217,705 messages on financial crisis; and 784,375 messages on economy over the period of last 6 months.
In the light of the recent Pew Research, which documented that often the press coverage of the economy state has lagged behind economic events, sometimes by months, the question posed by McCormack (2008) “where can you find the smartest, savviest takes on the markets and the economy?” becomes very relevant. One of the available resources of information on economy and finance matters could be financial blogs.
For the purposes of my study, I will define a financial blog as a blog, which is devoted to discussion of the financial and economy issues, is maintained by one person. To find the most popular financial blogs the researcher will use Google search.
In the current project the researcher will be looking at how the financial bloggers use their blogs. The coder will be reading the blog postings and making narrative descriptions of the specific blog uses. As an example, a financail blogger could use his blog to reflect on his life experience, or share with his/her opinions on the matters at hand. For the purpose of the current study the researcher does not employ any predetermined coding categories. The goal of the project is to generate data that will provide some insights on the financial blog use.
Subjects: the subject of the current study is the artifacts, i.e. a blog. A blog is a web site, usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order. The blog may contain archives of previous posts and a blogroll (a list of links to other blogs). For the purpose of the current study, for the web site to be considered a blog it should have at least blog posts that are displayed in reverse-chronological order.
Procedures: (a) For the current study, the researcher will look at financial blogs maintained by one individual. The researcher will analyze five most popular blogs returned by Google search. The results of the study will be used to develop the research instrument (categories of blog use), so the names or any other identification of the bloggers themselves will not be mentioned.
I. Rationale:
This research seeks to shed light on a small part of the financial blogging phenomenon by
asking the following question: how do financial bloggers use their blogs.
Financial blogging is becoming a popular activity in the recent year. Several signs could demonstrate the increasing popularity of financial blogging. Karyn McCormack (2008) argues that recent events in the financial market have been “great fodder for the growing community of financial bloggers.” Blogpulse, a service of Nielsen BuzzMetrics found 178,435 messages on economic crisis; 217,705 messages on financial crisis; and 784,375 messages on economy over the period of last 6 months.
In the light of the recent Pew Research, which documented that often the press coverage of the economy state has lagged behind economic events, sometimes by months, the question posed by McCormack (2008) “where can you find the smartest, savviest takes on the markets and the economy?” becomes very relevant. One of the available resources of information on economy and finance matters could be financial blogs.
For the purposes of my study, I will define a financial blog as a blog, which is devoted to discussion of the financial and economy issues, is maintained by one person. To find the most popular financial blogs the researcher will use Google search.
In the current project the researcher will be looking at how the financial bloggers use their blogs. The coder will be reading the blog postings and making narrative descriptions of the specific blog uses. As an example, a financail blogger could use his blog to reflect on his life experience, or share with his/her opinions on the matters at hand. For the purpose of the current study the researcher does not employ any predetermined coding categories. The goal of the project is to generate data that will provide some insights on the financial blog use.
Subjects: the subject of the current study is the artifacts, i.e. a blog. A blog is a web site, usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order. The blog may contain archives of previous posts and a blogroll (a list of links to other blogs). For the purpose of the current study, for the web site to be considered a blog it should have at least blog posts that are displayed in reverse-chronological order.
Procedures: (a) For the current study, the researcher will look at financial blogs maintained by one individual. The researcher will analyze five most popular blogs returned by Google search. The results of the study will be used to develop the research instrument (categories of blog use), so the names or any other identification of the bloggers themselves will not be mentioned.
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