Bellingcat’s online researcher survey

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Welcome to Bellingcat’s online researcher survey where we will kindly ask you to answer questions about the tools that you use during your work.

The tools you use can be complex or simple, for advanced researchers or beginners. We want to hear about them all. You can find some examples of tools that are used by online researchers in our Online Investigation Toolkit: bit.ly/bcattools.

You can choose to fill out the form anonymously or you can provide your name and contact details if you so wish.

There is no limitation for how long your answers can be. Please feel free to write as much as you like. We appreciate detailed answers and are looking forward to reading what you have to say!

Thank you in advance! We appreciate your support.

Do you conduct online research for your work or in your free time? *

Work

Free time

If you conduct online research for your work, how would you describe your area of work and your role? *

What level of experience do you have in the field of online/open source research? *

I have done this for many years on a regular basis and I am very experienced.

I do online research on a weekly or daily basis and I am quite experienced.

I occasionally do online research and have knowledge in this area but there is room for improvement.

I only started doing online research very recently and I am in the process of learning.

I have no experience with online research.

What is the most challenging aspect for you when conducting online research? *

How often do you use tools when conducting online research? *

I use tools every time I conduct online research.

I use tools for 2 out of 3 online research topics.

I use tools for half of my online research topics.

I use tools for 1 out of 3 online research topics.

I use tools only occasionally.

I do not use any tools.

What is your personal experience with finding the right tools for your research? *

I find what I need quite easily.

I find what I need but it takes a lot of time.

It is difficult to find the right tools.

How do you come across tools that are helpful for your online research? *

I use search engines to find tools.

I come across them via social media.

I read blogs and websites that present tools for online researchers.

I become aware of them when I read the research of others and see which tools they use.

I participate in conferences, courses or workshops to learn about online tools.

I use tools that are recommended to me by other researchers.

I search for them on Github.

Required

Describe a time when using a specific tool was really helpful for one of your investigations or research projects. Why did the use of the tool add value to your research? *

What are your favourite online research tools and why? (feel free to be specific and to name concrete tools).

Do you remember a situation when you got stuck with your research and wished there was an online tool that could help you continue? If yes, could you describe the thoughts that you had in this situation?

Do you remember a situation when using a specific tool did not add anything to your investigation but instead slowed you down? If yes, could you describe the case and the reasons for the tool not being useful? *

Are there online research tools that you generally dislike? If yes, please details what the tools are and why you dislike them?

What motivates you most to try out a new tool? *

If I think it might be useful for a specific research case I am working on, even if I have to spend some time on learning how to use the tool first.

If the tool's description clearly demonstrates what it does and how it works.

If I read examples of other researchers and how they have used the same tools.

I am generally curious to learn more about new tools and enjoy trying them out even if I am not immediately working on a specific research project for which they could be useful.

Do you use tools from Github for your research? *

I have never used Github.

I saw that there are tools available but I do not know how to use them.

I tried to use some but failed.

I use them from time to time but struggle a bit with using them.

I feel comfortable using them and apply them from time to time.

I use them regularly.

Would you be ready to be contacted by Bellingcat to tell us more about your research workflows and the tools you like or don’t like? If yes, please provide an e-mail address:

We don’t ask you for confidential research details, we are more interested in research processes, not in concrete research topics.

Would you like to be considered for winning a free place at a four-hour Bellingcat training? If yes, please answer with "yes" (and provide an e-mail address if you haven't yet done so above).

Is there anything else that you would like to tell us that you think may be useful in helping us design and develop useful open source tools for researchers?

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