I’ve had this idea for an internet study to explore the relationship between weight, BMI, perception, etc… But I’ve run into a design snag.
The core idea is that I would get female volunteers to give me three photos - a head shot, a full length photo clothed, and a full length photo in either a bikini or underwear, with the head cropped off or blurred.
The snag is that I can’t prevent people from grabbing the pictures - I’m sure it could be done but it’s not a level of work I want to go into for this idea.
Bearing in mind the truth of a phrase I’ve heard - “Removing information from the net is like removing pee from a pool” - what are your feelings on participating in such a survey?
Technically anyone that can view the photos on the Internet could save and post the photos just like any other photo. That’s all there is to it. No amount of protection would stop that, if it’s viewable, it’s savable.
Without knowing more about your plan, it’s not really possible to answer any of your questions about it. I can give you some general advice that holds true for most sociological investigations, though.
A big problem with studies like I assume you are trying to perform here is that it is extremely difficult to overcome the handicap of selection bias. That is, if you just solicit volunteers, you’re going to get a sample of people that is not at all representative of the general population in that none of them mind sending a stranger pictures over the internet. You can imagine that their own body image issues (or lack thereof) are not going to be representative of the greater society in a number of important respects.
That’s fine as far as it goes, but most people who study these kinds of things really are looking to find some result that can be applied to society in general. This is why
internet-based investigations rarely make their way into major journals.