Data collection in Internet environment in social representations studies

the present study aimed at comparing social representations structures concerning data collection procedures: through internet forms, diffused in the www, and through conventional paper and pencil questionnaire methods. overall 893 individuals participated in the research, 58% of whom were female. a total of 217 questionnaires about the social representation on football (soccer) and 218 about the representation on aging were answered by brazilian university students in classrooms. electronic versions of the same instrument were diffused through an internet forum linked to the same university. there were 238 answers for the football questionnaire and 230 for the aging one. the instrument asked participants to indicate five words or expressions related to one of the social objects. sample characteristics and structural analyses were carried out separately for the two data collection procedures. data indicated that internet-based research allows for higher sample diversity, but it is essential to guarantee the adoption of measures that can select only desired participants. results also pointed out the need to take into account the nature of the social object to be investigated through internet research on representations, seeking to avoid self-selection effects, which can bias results, as it seems to have happened with the football social object.