Abstract
We alert readers to the value of using unsolicited online datain drug policy research by highlighting web-based content relevant todrug policy generated by four distinct types of actor: people whoconsume, supply or produce illicit drugs, online news websites and stateor civil society organisations. These actors leave 'digital traces'across a range of internet platforms, and these traces become availableto researchers to use as data - although they have not been solicited byresearchers, and so have not been created specifically to fulfil the aimsof research projects. This particular type of data entails certainstrengths, limitations and ethical challenges, and we aim to assistresearchers in understanding these by drawing on selected examples ofpublished research using unsolicited online data that have generatedvaluable drug policy insights not possible using other traditional datasources. We argue for the continued and increased importance of usingunsolicited online data so that drug policy scholarship keep pace withrecent developments in the global landscape of drug policies and illicitdrug practices.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | International Journal of Drug Policy |
| ISSN | 0955-3959 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2019 |
Keywords
- online data
- unsolicited data
- online methods
- online markets