Web-based data-collection - methodological challenges, solutions and implementations (WEBDATANET)

Web-based data collection (surveys, experimenting, testing, non-reactive data collection, and mobile Internet research) is/will become important for all social science fields. In avoiding both a simultaneous waste of effort and the use of web data without scientific validity, a multidisciplinary network is proposed to address web-based data collection, its methodologies, scientific validity, and use in the social sciences.WEBDATANET will benefit from communication throughout the social sciences by establishing a network bringing together social scientists, survey and web-based data collection experts, and data users. It will tackle several web-based data collection problems and discuss scientific validity by using different data sources, such as existing web-surveys, social networks, and other web 2.0 technologies. WEBDATANET will generate innovative ideas, address the latest technological options, synergise knowledge, foster the drafting of cross-national research proposals, and provide new tools and guidance for researchers, official bodies, and statistical institutes.WEBDATANET will promote web-based data usage in the EU by supplying web-based teaching and discussion platforms, disseminating findings, and organizing conferences, working groups, and research exchanges. It will contribute to the theoretical foundation of web-based data collection, stimulate its integration into the entire research process (e-science), and enhance its credibility in the name of public interest.