Studying digital parties : methods, challenges and responses

Digital technology is becoming an increasingly familiar part of the landscape of party politics, but to date few scholars have directly considered methodological questions about how we study digital parties. In this chapter, we address this gap, asking: ‘how can digital parties be studied, and what barriers do researchers need to overcome?’ Drawing insights from a wide range of existing literature devoted to party scholarship, we consider available methods and reflect on how digital parties can be examined. Highlighting a current interest in their classification, as well as studies of their intentions, practices and implications, we consider the utility of diverse methodologies that can be implemented in this field. We also outline a range of challenges—from the rapid pace of change this field encompasses, the scale of the research which often needs to be undertaken and issues surrounding access and competency—and how these can be overcome.