Nigel G. Fielding is Professor of Sociology at the University of Surrey and a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences. He co-directs the CAQDAS Networking Project, which provides training and support in the use of computer software in qualitative data analysis. His research interests are in new technologies for social research, qualitative research methods, and mixed method research design. He has authored or edited 20 books, over 65 journal articles and over 200 other publications. In research methodology his books include a study of the integration of qualitative and quantitative data (Linking Data, 1986 and 2014, Sage, with Jane Fielding), an influential book on qualitative software (Using Computers in Qualitative Research, 1991, Sage; editor, with Ray Lee), a study of the role of computer technology in qualitative research (Computer Analysis and Qualitative Research, 1998, Sage, with Ray Lee), two four-volume edited sets on Interviewing in the Sage ‘Masterworks’ series, and the Handbook of Online Research Methods (ed., with Ray Lee and Grant Blank; Sage, 2008, second edition 2016). He presently serves on the President’s Task Force on the Future of Mixed Methods.

Raymond M. Lee is Emeritus Professor of Social Research Methods at Royal Holloway University of London. He has written extensively on a range of methodological topics. These include the problems and issues involved in research on ‘sensitive’ topics, research in physically dangerous environments, the use of unobtrusive measures, and the role of new technologies in the research process. His current research focuses on the historical development of interviewing techniques.

Grant Blank is the Survey Research Fellow at the Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, United Kingdom. He is a sociologist specializing in the political and social impact of computers and the Internet, the digital divide, statistical and qualitative methods, and cultural sociology. He is currently working on a project asking how are cultural hierarchies constructed in online reviews of cultural attractions. His other project links sample survey data with census data to generate small area estimates of Internet use in Great Britain. He holds a PhD from the University of Chicago