Heads up: some academic research taking place

[RowanMumsnet]

Hello

Some researchers from a UK university are going to be collecting posts from some boards on Mumsnet over the next few weeks. They will be looking only at posts published from this point onwards. Selected posts will be anonymised (ie usernames will not be stored anywhere), and all processes will be GDPR-compliant.

EDITED BY MNHQ: to be clear, NO private or back-end data is being shared with the researchers and they will have NO access to any extra information about users. They will only be analysing published posts, ie things that are already in the public domain.

The researchers will analyse the text of the anonymised posts as part of their study. The full text of these anonymised posts will not be reproduced in the study - no pieces of text that make you or your situation identifiable will be published.

Once the study is complete, the database containing the anonymised posts will be destroyed.

Obviously we'd love to tell you what the study is about - but we can't because it will skew the results. However once the research has been completed we'll share it with you and you can read all about it. The academics running the study are people we've worked with before, and the topic is one we think lots of MN users will agree is interesting and useful.

IMPORTANT BIT: if you DO NOT want your posts to be considered for inclusion in the research, please shout here on this thread or email us on [email protected]

And of course let us know if you have any questions and we'll see if we can answer them.

Thanks

MNHQ

Well I missed it there too!

I've been watching/lurking on this thread because I've been seeing it 'stickied' in Chat for weeks!!!

Justwanttoweeinpeace

You do know that if you RTFT you will get the answer to your questions?

I looked up some MN-based research papers and found this section in one report that looked into how maternal feelings were discussed on the site:

"There is vigorous debate in the social scientific literature about the ethical issues relating to using content from online forums (and other social media) that are fully open to public view for research purposes. No consensus has yet been established on whether the informed consent of users who contribute content to such fora should be sought if their texts are to be used in research. Our position conforms to that adopted by many other researchers using this type of material (Madge, 2007, Roberts, 2015). We decided that we did not need to seek the informed consent of Mumsnet users to use their content in our research for the following reasons: we did not elicit or comment in any way on the material as forum users but rather accessed it after it had been spontaneously generated; users’ identities are not revealed on the site and therefore their anonymity is assured; the terms and conditions of Mumsnet make it clear that it is a public rather than private space in which all users know that any internet user can view their comments; and threads are rendered available and readily searchable even to non-members. We chose not to refer to user names/pseudonyms when we referred to or quoted from members’ comments, particularly as some of their comments are very personal and sensitive."

Abstract here:
"In this article, we present an analysis of how communities of maternal feeling are configured by users on the discussion boards of Mumsnet, a popular British online parenting forum. A search was conducted to find threads with the phrase ‘I feel’ in the title. The first 100 threads in the search results using this term that referred to emotions – almost all of which articulated negative feelings – were then analysed. We argue that forums like Mumsnet provide an important anonymous space where women can talk openly about emotions. In doing so, feeling rules related to ‘good motherhood’ are established and reproduced. Members of Mumsnet tolerate some expression of feelings such as ambivalence, resentment, anxiety and anger and often provide empathy and friendly support in response. However, the expression of negative maternal feeling is tolerated only to a certain degree. Those posters who go beyond this boundary are positioned as exceeding the norm and requiring professional help. Forums such as Mumsnet often serve to support rather than challenge the political status quo in their emphasis on self-responsibility, personal choice and therapeutic solutions to what are positioned as private problems."

Pedersen, S. and Lupton, D. (2018) 'What are you feeling right now?’ communities of maternal feeling on Mumsnet', Emotion, Space and Society, vol.26, pp.57-63

Thanks for that reference. It shows how useful MN is to researchers, as well as being material for the Mail on Line.
After the experience with this thread it's unlikely that anyone will ask 'permission' to use its public material ever again.

opting out

We argue that forums like Mumsnet provide an important anonymous space where women can talk openly about emotions

If I were peer reviewing that paper I'd want to know how they factor in the male troll problem.

Also, did / do researchers differentiate (and if so, how) between say, AIBU and Relationships, Chat and a Special Needs board?

I think people who are opting out don't understand what the situation is.
The information you write on this site is freely available to anyone and everyone.
The researchers are not interested in identifying individuals, nor would they be able to.
You are not going to be manipulated or asked to reveal anything. The research is passive observation of words used to discuss particular topics.
They don't have to ask you. They're doing it out of politeness.

Do not use any of mine. Don't care if it's anonymous or not, what the fuck?

Princess you do understand that this sort of work goes on all the time? Your words will have been used over and over. This is just the one project that was polite enough to ask. No others have or will again. RTFT.

Opt out please

Princess anything you write on here is available to anyone who wants to read it. What risk do you see to yourself as a result of this research?

Count me out
Ta

Sorry if you’ve already answered this!

How will the researchers see posts across name changes? Will they be able to see that ‘poster 1’ has a set of posts across multiple name changes?

Because that could be very identifying

How will the researchers see posts across name changes? Will they be able to see that ‘poster 1’ has a set of posts across multiple name changes?

They won't see that.
They will see exactly what you and I see. Just the posts as they appear.

It has been said if you want to opt out you have to say that for every user name.

RubbishRobotFromTheDawnOfTime
I think people who are opting out don't understand what the situation is.

The situation is that it has been offered in this case that we can opt out (some of us have taken it).

Is that so hard to understand?

They don't have to ask you. They're doing it out of politeness.

This is a public forum. They are only using public information. I am sure that many different educational, marketing companies, as well as individual students have used mumsnet as a form of data for research before it's just this time the uni decided to speak to mumsnet to say they were going to do it. I assume to be extra considerate and assure mumsnet that they will not be using names etc.

You are posting in the public domain anyone can see it. As a university I am sure any data they take from this study will be used in a responsible way and hopefully go on to help us all as a wider community.

If it is another way this forum can help others I think it's a good thing.

For those who have opted out of this one, which is fair enough, just be clear that countless others will still be analysing your posts.

It's like trying to get water out of the Titanic with a bucket.

No thanks, please don't use any of my posts. I like the privacy and anonymity of this site and for that reason I am out.

I think this thread is very enlightening as to people's mind processes.

No wonder there are so many pointless arguments on this site.

Lweji
For those who have opted out of this one, which is fair enough, just be clear that countless others will still be analysing your posts.

Just to be clear, I won't care because I won't know.

Ignorance is bliss, they say.

Jux

When academics are researching "maternal feeling" on an anonymous website where there is no way of knowing if the people posting are mothers, parents or even female. It begs the question is it worthwhile research.