Internet policy research: critical epistemological and methodological considerations

This chapter addresses research methods and techniques in the political economy of communication tradition that can be applied in the study of Internet policy in the context of globalization. It begins by identifying what a political economy of communication approach to Internet policy in a globalizing world is likely to identify as core problems and appropriate theories. This is followed by a discussion of epistemological and methodological considerations with illustrations of methods used to study the structure and dynamics of markets and to examine various aspects of datafication and platformization. The aim of this chapter is to demonstrate that while research methods and techniques relevant to the analysis of Internet policy may change over time, core problematics retain their significance because developments in this area are conditioned by capitalist market dynamics.